Oil at five-month high supported by supply cuts and sanctions
An escalation of fighting in Libya is threatening further supply disruption
Singapore/London — Oil prices rose to their highest level since November 2018 on Monday, driven by Opec supply cuts, US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela and fighting in Libya as well as strong US jobs data. International benchmark Brent futures were at $70.66 per barrel at 10am GMT on Monday, up 32 US cents, or 0.5% from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 30c, or 0.5%, at $63.38 per barrel. Brent and WTI both hit their highest since November at $70.83 and $63.53 a barrel, respectively, early on Monday. To prop up prices, Opec and nonaffiliated allies like Russia, known as Opec+, pledged to withhold about 1.2-million barrels per day (bpd) of supply from the start of 2019. “Opec's ongoing supply cuts and US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela have been the major driver of prices throughout this year,” Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at futures brokerage FXTM, said. “However, the latest boost was received from an escalation of fighting in Li...
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