Brent and West Texas Intermediate crudes fell for the first time in three days after Libyan rebels surrendered control of two oil ports to the government, enabling the OPEC country to increase exports.
Brent dropped as much as 1.4 percent. The self-declared Executive Office for Barqa handed over the oil terminals of Hariga and Zueitina overnight and will relinquish the other two ports they control in two to four weeks, said Ali Al-Hasy, a spokesman for the group. Libya’s output fell to 250,000 barrels a day in March from 1.4 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Brent for May settlement slid $1.12, or 1 percent, to $105.60 a barrel at 12:13 p.m. New York time on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 31 percent higher than the 100-day average.
WTI for May delivery decreased 77 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $100.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Volume was 11 percent above the 100-day average. The U.S. benchmark grade’s discount to Brent shrank to $5.23 from $5.58 on April 4.
Source: Bloomberg
