Brent Steady With Exports Set To Resume In Libya

Brent crude oil was steady at $112.36 at 5:00 GMT on Wednesday morning after easing geopolitical tension took the commodity to a three week low on Tuesday.

CNBC reported that Libya looked set to restore some of its lost export capacity after rebels who had been blocking two of the nation’s eastern oil terminals agreed to reopen them. The OPEC supplier has seen its oil exports diminish to less than half the normal rate as rebel groups took control of the nation’s export terminals and shut them down in protest last summer. If the rebel groups follow through with their promise, Libya would see its export capacity rise by about 500,000 barrels per day.

However, the ongoing problems in Iraq kept a floor under prices as investors continued to worry that the nation’s division could become a full blown civil war. On Tuesday, the Iraqi government held its first session of parliament with the addition of Sunni and Kurd representatives. The meeting, meant to help unify the nation, may have exacerbated the conflict as both the Sunnis and the Kurds walked out when they discovered that a new prime minister was not being named. Most expect that another meeting won’t be held for at least a month.

Moving forward investors will be focused on US oil inventory data after the American Petroleum Institute released a report on Tuesday which showed that US inventories fell by 876,000 barrels last week. Now, markets will be looking for confirmation of that figure from the more closely watched Energy Information Administration’s version of the report, due out later in the day.