London — Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday despite industry data showing an increase in US crude inventories, lifted by supply disruptions in Libya and views that an oil cartel Opec-led output reduction is likely to be extended. Front-month Brent crude futures rose 41c to $51.74 a barrel by 9.29am GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 34c at $48.71 a barrel. Oil production from the western Libyan fields of El Sharara and Al Wafa has been blocked by armed protesters, reducing output by some 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) and prompting the National Oil Corporation to declare force majeure on Tuesday. "That [Libya], along with the Iranian oil minister saying there is likely to be an extension to the production cut deal, helped crude oil rally overnight," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader. Opec member Libya was excluded from the cuts, agreed late last year, as the country’s oil sector fell victim to the unrest that followed ...
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