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Crude oil price falls as Nigeria, Libya return to market  

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Trump victory pushes oil prices lower by 1.5%

 

Following reports that Nigeria and Libya may be re-entering the international oil market, prices of crude fell in the early hours of Friday by 0.06 per cent with fear of more drop in coming months.

Brent crude futures were trading at $46.32 per barrel at 0107 GMT, down 27 cents, or 0.6 per cent, from their last settlement, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 24 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $43.67 a barrel.

Data from the U.S. oil sector for the week to weekend have shown that a barrel price of $40 may be supported if the supply routes continue to rise.

Supplier-countries were said to have expressed mixed feelings that a renewed oil glut may be in the offing. based on concern that Nigeria and Libya, locked out of the system in the past months by violent attacks on their oil fields, were in a position to cancel the force majeure that companies in the two countries had severally declared.

Read also: Nigeria yet to fully tap $2.1bn maritime revenue –Experts 

The fear of the fate of the market was further heightened by the disclosure that United States’ oil output and reserves would increase the global supply in months to come.

But financial analysts say this will rather worsen the economic crisis that Nigeria is facing, since the expectation is that resumption of crude supply will help it survive its economic recession.

Though some players had insisted that supply from Libya and Nigeria will hamper a rebalancing of the global crude market. Nigerian officials are upbeat on the development.

ExxonMobil has a pipeline prepared to export Nigeria’s Qua Iboe crude oil, with the first cargo expected to load as early as the end of September.

Libya is resuming oil exports from some of its main ports which forces loyal to eastern commander, Khalifa Haftar seized in recently and has lifted related force majeure contractual clauses, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday.

 

By Emma Eke….

 

 

 

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