Thursday, March 1, 2012

Crude hits 10-month high after Saudi pipelines blast

Thu Mar 1, 2012 10:26PM GMT
LAST UPDATE
Oil prices have soared to their highest level in the past ten months following reports of an explosion of pipelines in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.


Brent North Sea crude is trading at nearly $ 127 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate is trading above $ 109 a barrel.

Meanwhile, light, sweet crude for April delivery soared to as high as $110.55 a barrel after it settled for Thursday at $108.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.77 from Wednesday's closing level. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange also rose to $128.40 a barrel.

On Thursday evening, an explosion in Saudi Arabian city of Awamiyah in the east of the kingdom destroyed the pipelines feeding one of the most important oil hubs in the world.

The major pipeline starts in Abqaiq and ends at Ras Tanrua oil terminal carrying nearly six million barrels of oil every day.

Last week, oil prices rose to a nine-month high due to Iran's cutting of crude exports to certain European Union states in response to the EU oil sanctions imposed against Iran.

MHB/MA

No comments:

Post a Comment