Oil And The Libyan Effect
By Jonathan Barratt
We continue to be bearish oil in 2014, however we are fully aware the market takes time to find its terminal point given a particular set of ideas. Last week we mentioned that the market would remain bearish unless we have some geopolitical concerns from the Middle East, and it looks like the situation in Libya once again is turning for the worst and as result we are starting to see a premium built into the Brent price. The actions to date have put a low in play and suspect that we are amidst a short covering rally.
Libya used to produce close to 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) or roughly speaking 4% of global production. Since the demise of Colonel Gaddaffi, the transitional governments have been finding it difficult to cement a true democracy.