Commodity analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc. said. Brent crude prices could double to $220 per barrel in the coming weeks if Libya descends into an all-out civil war and further shuts down oil production in the country.
Turmoil in Libya has slashed its oil output by 75 percent or 1.2 million barrels per day, key Libyan oil sector player ENI said on Thursday.
Stocks sank for a second consecutive day in tandem with oil prices surging to 28-month highs as continued turmoil and violence in Libya shatters traders nerves.
The price of oil crude oil futures touched $100 per barrel for the first time since October 2008 on deepening worries over the political chaos and violence in oil-rich Libya.
As much as a quarter of OPEC member Libya's oil output has been shut down, Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday, as unrest prompted oil firms to warn of production cuts in Africa's third-largest producer.
U.S. stocks are plunging and oil prices are surging on fears over the continued violent unrest in Libya.
Muammar Gaddafi vowed to die in Libya as a martyr in an angry television address on Tuesday, as rebel troops said eastern regions had broken free from his rule in a burgeoning revolt.
Crude oil prices have surged more than 7 percent this morning in New York trading, reaching as high as $98 per barrel, as the chaos in Libya raised fears of supply disruptions.
Oil prices have jumped in response to the growing chaos in oil producer and OPEC member Libya and the potential for the escalation of unrest in Iran, OPEC’s second biggest oil producer..
The son of Moammar Gaddafi has denied media reports that his father has fled Libya for Venezuela.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said his father remains in Libya.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) has announced that it is suspending its drilling activities in Libya due to the rising tide of political violence in that country and also plans to evacuate non-essential staff and their families.
The unrest roiling the Middle East has now spread to the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.
Bahraini police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests on Monday in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital Manama, dampening a Day of Rage stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia.
The US trade deficit of goods and services rose to $40.6 billion in December compared with a deficit of $38.3 billion in November, the commerce department said on Friday.
U.S. crude futures edged above $89.05 a barrel on Monday, recovering from a near 2 percent drop in the previous session, supported by the political crisis in Egypt and a drop in the U.S. unemployment rate to a 21-month low.
Nigeria's combined crude oil and condensate production is currently 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) but output from Africa's largest crude exporter still remains within its OPEC quota, the state oil company says.
Saudi Arabia will boost contract crude sales by 10 percent to Asia's biggest refiner Sinopec this year as the world's top oil exporter cements its share of the world's fastest growing fuel market.
Disappointing earnings reports from blue chips Johnson and Johnson and 3Com cast a pall on U.S. stocks
Algeria expects oil production to remain steady in 2011, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts will be met despite reduced capacity, the head of state-owned energy giant Sonatrach said on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks advanced on restructuring news, strong economic forecast
Technology and retail stocks continue to drive market
OPEC may consider raising production in 2011 in order to meet higher demand, according to the oil minister of Saudi Arabia.
