NEW YORK: Brent crude was trading steady to slightly lower in price yesterday, paring earlier gains of more than $1 after news that production was restarting at a key North Sea oilfield and as the market weighed Libya’s resolve to get oil exports on track.
Brent crude oil rose to more than $108 a barrel early in the session, prompted by supply concerns after Nexen reported an outage at the North Sea Buzzard oilfield, the largest Forties crude blend producing field. Forties is the most important of the North Sea crudes underpinning the Brent benchmark.
Prices retreated after Nexen said it was in the process of restarting production and expected output to return to normal levels over the next few days. Brent crude for February delivery fell 4 cents to $107.11 per barrel in choppy trade at 1645 GMT, after reaching a high of $108.20. Brent fell as much as $6 last week, after Libya said it would restart its El Sharara oil field. US oil followed Brent higher, opening at $92.84, but fell to $91.83 by late morning.Reuters
