Oil futures settle at three-week low as Libya declares oil crisis
'over'
New York (Platts)--3Jul2014/413 pm EDT/2013 GMT
Oil futures settled marginally down to a three-week low Thursday
after Libya declared an end to the crisis that has hampered its exports
for more than a year.
NYMEX August crude settled at $104.06/barrel, down 42 cents; ICE August
Brent ended 24 cents lower at $111/b.
In products, NYMEX August ULSD settled 1.77 cents lower at $2.9284/gal,
while August RBOB ended 42 points lower at $3.0198/gal.
Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani declared the country's
oil sector crisis "over" after the government reached an agreement with
rebel leaders, allowing the government to take back control of the major
eastern oil terminals at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf.
Still, doubts remain among market players and analysts as to when
exports will actually resume from the two ports and whether the newly
found harmony in Libya can be sustained for any length of time (See
story, 1340 GMT).
Meanwhile, the petroleum complex extended the week's decline as
"emotions have swung from concern to relative complacency over the
battle for control of Iraq as production from the major southern oil
fields remains unaffected," said Tim Evans, commodity analyst at Citi
Futures Perspective.
Analysts also noted that even reconsideration of the more bullish
aspects of Wednesday's US Energy Information Administration petroleum
report was not enough to turn the market to the upside.
The report showed US crude stocks declined a larger-than-expected 3.2
million barrels last week. At the same time, crude stocks at the NYMEX
contract delivery point at Cushing, Oklahoma, fell 1.3 million barrels,
putting stocks at the hub at a 48.5% deficit to the EIA five-year
average.
--Alison Ciaccio, alison.ciaccio@platts.com --Edited by Kevin Saville,
kevin.saville@platts.com
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