Crude oil higher on supply concerns

Crude oil prices were up on Tuesday on new concerns about supply from Nigerian and Iraq. In Iraq, the oil minister said that exports out of Iraq to Turkey via a northern pipeline will not resume for as much as a year after sabotage attacks on the line. Exports from Iraq were down to around 1.1 million barrels per day in December and January, the lowest in three years. The oil minister said that exports should be back up to around 1.5 million barrels per day in March.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the president there said he would call meetings with militant groups from the Niger Delta region next month to discuss issues that have led the rebels to carry out attacks that have shut down one-fourth of Nigeria’s production capacity. The militants have threatened more sabotage.

In late afternoon trade on the International Petroleum Exchange in London, Brent crude for May delivery was up $1.25 to $64.86 per barrel. May contract West Texas Intermediate had risen $1.14 to $65.30 per barrel by mid-morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Precious metals hovered around long-term highs again on Tuesday. Silver returned to $10.92 per troy ounce, its high point on Monday, before retreating a bit to $10.89 by late afternoon in London. Gold hit $569.10 per troy ounce, a three-week high, before easing to $567.60/$568.50 late in the day. Platinum traded at $1,0170 during the day, near its 25-year high of $1,083.

Base metals were up on the day, as well. Aluminium, nickel, lead, and tin all were up. Copper hit a new record high of $5,333 per tonne before slipping back to $5,323.5 later on, a gain of $13.5 for the day. Prices were up on a strike at a northern Mexican mine and on lower inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses. Zinc was up to $2,628 during the day, only $2 shy of the record price set on Monday.

Elsewhere, refined sugar futures were up by more than 4 percent to a record high of $479 per tonne, while raw sugar gained 4 percent in New York, up to $18.25 per pound. The price of raw sugar was still below it’s 25-year high of $19.73, however.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Crude oil higher on supply concerns