What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•IPE Brent futures surged over the $75/barrel level again as output fears in Nigeria mounted following Monday's rupture in the 180,000 b/d Bonny Light pipeline and on a stream of US refinery glitches, brokers said Tuesday. The front-month September Brent futures contract was trading 41 cents higher on Monday's close at $74.89/barrel and shy of the intra-day high of $75.41/barrel.

•Prices rallied sharply into Monday's close with the front-month September futures contract gaining around $1.50/barrel in the last three hours of trading having spent much of the day in negative territory. "A lot of people were expecting a more bearish outlook but then the Nigeria news broke and lots of traders got caught out," one broker said.

•One European oil major was a heavy buyer of the September/October spread, helping drive the value higher by around 30 cents from the previous day, brokders said. The spread closed out Monday at minus 26 cents in contango and was trading around this level at 1208 GMT.
 

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