Oil prices slip as Libyan rebels plan restart of exports

Crude oil futures slipped on Monday as Libyan rebels disclosed plans of oil exports from the key oil towns captured by them over the weekend.

Crude oil for May delivery traded lower at $104.98, down 42 cents, early Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The prices rose 4.2 percent last week. Brent crude for May delivery fell 41 cents to $115.18 on ICE Futures exchange in London.

Rebel forces in Libya on Sunday occupied a pair of eastern coastal cities, Brega and Ras Lanuf, which included much of the nation's oil refining and exporting facilities.

The rebels on Monday announced plans of exporting oil once production started at the sites controlled by them, CommodityOnline reported.

The opposition is contemplating to begin exports in less than a week and the oil fields have a capacity to produce between 100,000 and 130,000 barrels a day.

We are producing about 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day, we can easily up that to about 300,000 a day, said Ali Tarhoni, the rebel representative for economy, finance and oil.

Libya’s oil output dropped by more-than two thirds to just 500,000 barrels per day from 1.6 million barrels, since the rebellion against Gadhafi began in February, AFP reported, quoting Shukri Ghanem, chief of National Oil Corp.

Tarhoni said that he had signed a contract with Qatar to market the oil and he expected to start exports in less than a week.