OIL JUMPS 2 Percent $ 112 Barrel on Libyan Armed Revolt, Dollar Weakness

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Oil Climbs Above $112 on Libyan Armed Revolt, Dollar Weakness

By Mark Shenk - Apr 8, 2011
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Crude rose above $112 in New York for the first time in 30 months and Brent topped $126 on skepticism that Libyan output will rebound when fighting ends and as a weaker dollar increased demand for raw materials.
Oil climbed 2.3 percent in New York as Barclays Capital said strikes on Libyan fields by forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi ended hopes for a prompt export resumption and may send prices toward $130 a barrel. Commodities also gained as the dollar fell to the lowest level in more than a year against the euro.
“Since the Libya unrest began, there’s been a re-coupling of the inverse relationship between the dollar and oil,” said Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “The Middle East is being used as cover by speculators looking to send oil higher.”
Crude oil for May delivery rose $2.49 to $112.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 22, 2008. Futures advanced 4.5 percent this week and are 32 percent higher than a year ago.
Brent oil for May settlement increased $3.98, or 3.2 percent, to end the session at $126.65 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was the highest settlement since July 30, 2008.
The European benchmark was at a $13.86-a-barrel premium over West Texas Intermediate, the oil traded in New York. London Brent, traditionally cheaper than WTI, has been higher than the Nymex grade since August because of ample U.S. stockpiles.
Since anti-government protests in Libya began Feb. 15, oil in New York has increased 34 percent while the dollar has declined 6.6 percent versus the euro.

NATO Strikes

North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets have struck 23 targets in the past two days in Libya, Rear Admiral Russell Harding, the deputy commander of the NATO mission, said in Naples, Italy. The rebels’ six-week drive to topple Qaddafi’s 42-year rule has reached a military impasse as regime forces outgunned the opposition.
Three oilfields with a combined output of 400,000 barrels a day have been targeted by Qaddafi’s troops, Barclays analysts led by London-based Amrita Sen, said in a report. Production would be less than a third of its pre-conflict level even if the rebels took control of the country’s fields, Nomura Holdings Inc. said in a report.
“Libya is down for the count,” said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Washington. “Kuwait is the only country to come back 100 percent after a major disruption over the last 30 years. Iran, Iraq and Venezuela haven’t been able to get back to pre-disruption production levels, so the outlook for Libya isn’t promising.”

Falling Output

Iran, the second-biggest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, increased output by 45,000 barrels a day to 3.7 million in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country pumped more than 5 million barrels a day before the 1979 revolution.
Output in OPEC member Iraq hasn’t recovered since the country’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 touched off the Persian Gulf War. Venezuelan production hasn’t rebounded since a strike in 2002 and 2003 crippled the country’s oil industry.
“The Libyan oil has been off the market for a while now,” said Tom Bentz, a broker with BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. “Oil continues to rise on worries about Libyan oil production and the continued weakness of the dollar. The rally in oil prices should start to have an impact on the economy; maybe it already is.”

Nigerian Poll

The gain accelerated after an explosion hit an office of Nigeria’s electoral commission. Voters in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil-producing country, go to the polls tomorrow to choose members of parliament in the first of a three-stage general election.
“We could easily come in Monday and see further disruptions because of the Nigerian election,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “This is critical because Nigeria produces high-quality crude that’s similar to the missing barrels from Libya.”
The dollar slipped as much as 1 percent to $1.4444, the lowest level since Jan. 10, 2010. A weaker U.S. currency reduces the appeal of commodities, which are priced in dollars.
“If you want to know why commodities are up, take a look at the dollar,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “The dollar is dropping because the Fed is out of whack with the rest of the globe when it comes to rate expectations.”
The European Central Bank yesterday increased interest rates for the first time in almost three years. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said in Knoxville, Tennessee, that the ECB’s decision to raise borrowing may put pressure on the dollar.

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