Protests In Libya Boost Brent

reported that Libyan oil exports tumbled as the country lost its grip on containing labor riots that previously cut the nation's exports in half. Libyan government officials had made promising progress and reopened several of the nation's oilfields over the past month. However, over the weekend a fresh round of protests depressed exports to 90,000 barrels and boosted Brent prices by nearly $2 per barrel. US industrial production data also supported crude prices as the number one oil consuming nation's industrial production figures had their largest jump in seven months. The data, from September, indicated that demand is picking up. Moving forward, investors will be watching for progress between Iranian officials and six world powers as a two day meeting between the two sides is set to begin on Wednesday. Sanctions designed to cut funding to Iran's nuclear development program have kept about 1 million barrels of crude from the market over the past decade. With Iran and the West working toward a diplomatic solution to the longstanding dispute, oil prices have been under pressure. Should the two sides reach an agreement, the influx of supply would send Brent prices tumbling. On Tuesday investors will also keep an eye on American Petroleum Institute data, due out at 20:30 GMT. Most are expecting the data to show that US oil inventories rose 3.2 million barrels last week.