The closure of the Forties North Sea pipeline has removed substantial amounts of Brent Crude oil from the supply line that was already constricting due to OPEC-led production costs and pushed up the price of oil to $65 per barrel.
Brent crude futures on Tuesday, the standard internationally for oil prices, were at $
65.07 dollars a barrel at 0211 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 58.21 dollars a barrel.
Britain’s also suffered a setback with the largest Forties oil pipeline, at a capacity of 450,000 barrels per day (bpd), being shut down when surveyors noticed cracks in the pipeline
“The market reaction shows that in a tight market, any supply issue will quickly be reflected in higher prices,” said ANZ bank. The jump in Brent prices widened its premium to WTI prices, making U.S. oil exports more attractive.(Reuters/NAN)