What's Moving the Oil Markets?

What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•-IPE Brent futures in London fell below $75/barrel for the first time in nine sessions as the market used the ceasefire in the Middle East and BP's statement to increase its Alaskan crude output as reasons to sell.

•BP will continue oil output at the western portion of Alaska's 400,000 b/d Prudhoe Bay oil field and will ramp the area up to 200,000 b/d after the company completes a maintenance shutdown at Gathering Center 1, BP said Saturday in a statement on its web site. The company did not say when maintenance would be completed.

•A UN-brokered ceasefire in fighting between Israel and the Shi'ite militant group, Hezbollah, took effect at 0500 GMT. However, Israel said Monday it would maintain its air and sea blockade of Lebanon despite the ceasefire on the ground to end more than a month of fighting.

•In other news, Iran on Monday said it was not intimidated by the threat of UN sanctions after the Security Council passed a resolution urging it to suspend uranium enrichment, saying they would have no effect. AFP reported.

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