Oil production cuts announced in Libya sent crude oil prices upward by 3% on Monday and was no top of the 2% gains recorded by both benchmarks last Friday.
Libya’s reductions added to nagging worries about escalating conflict in the Middle East. Some analysts also say weak oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key U.S. storage hub, contributed to concerns about supplies.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.59 or 3.5% per barrel and reached $77.42, its highest level in some time on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Global benchmark Brent crude finished up $2.41 or $3.05% and settled at $81.43 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
“The near-term buying seems justified,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial, citing Middle East tensions, Libyan production outages and weak oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key U.S. storage hub.
Most Oklahoma energy stocks recorded gains on Monday.
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