A weaker dollar and oil productions disruptions in Nigeria, helped boost oil prices on June 7 to their highest levels in eight months.
"The disruption of supply was a reason before and they had good estimates coming in as to demand,” London-based energy expert Manouchehr Takin told New Europe by phone on June 7, citing India and the US after Memorial Day as examples where there have been recent signs of increased demand. "The supply is not available. In case of Nigeria it has become a bit worse,” he added. "There is the supply issue. But there is also the issue of the dollar.”
Following supply outages in Canada, Venezuela, Libya and Nigeria, crude prices have gained more than 85% from this year’s lows, according to Reuters. Brent crude was up at $50.97 a barrel by 10:55 a.m. ET (1455 GMT), having hit an intraday peak of $51.30 earlier in the day. US crude rose 25 cents to $49.94 a barrel, having touched a fresh 2016 peak of $50.37.
Attacks to the Nigerian oil industry have market traders worried about length supply disruptions, Takin said. Nigerian militants calling themselves the Niger Delta Avengers have already affected the country’s oil supply. On June 3, bombings reportedly struck two pipelines, with Royal Dutch Shell PLC confirming signs of a spill from one it owned.
Canada, plagued by wildfires in oil-rich Alberta, and Nigeria have reportedly recently removed more than three million barrels of crude from the market a day.
On June 2, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at a meeting in Vienna on June 2 failed to show a unified stance to take measures that would influence crude supplies and prices. They noted, however, they were satisfied that prices had recovered after they bottomed out earlier this year.
According to the newly elected head of the organisation, former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Mohammed Barkindo, OPEC intends to continue strengthening cooperation with non-cartel oil producing states, especially Russia.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/canadian-fire-nigerian-avengers-disrupt-supplies-drive-oil-prices/
