International oil price rebounds as Brent crude, others appreciate

Brent crude futures rose by 60 cents or 1.4%, to close at $42.32 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose by 63 cents or 1.6%, to close at $40.06 per barrel on Tuesday.

China, the world’s top crude oil importer, took in 11.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in September, up 5.5% from August and up 17.5% from September last year.

According to Commerzbank, “Currently, oil demand is driven primarily by China.

S&P Global Platts Analytics estimates Libyan crude supply could return to 500,000 b/d this month, but warned that “longer term stability remains uncertain.”

Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) on Oct.11 lifted force majeure on Sharara, the country’s top producing oil field, and restarted pumping as the OPEC producer continues to restore its energy industry following the Libyan National Army’s end of a nine-month blockade in September.

NOC received assurances from the Petroleum Facilities Guard, linked to the self-styled LNA (Libyan National Army), that it will end security violations and remove hurdles to allow the national oil company to lift force majeure and resume operations at the field, the company said in a statement.

Libya’s total output on Monday was expected to hit 355,000 bpd. A full return of the 300,000 bpd Sharara field would nearly double that.

Libya holds Africa’s largest proven reserves of oil and its main light sweet Es Sider and Sharara export crudes yield a large proportion of gasoline and middle distillates, making them popular with refineries in the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe.