Oil Declines as Surplus Forecast Counters Libya Worries

Oil prices eased on Wednesday, extending declines as the International Energy Agency forecast a market surplus in the first half, helping ease concerns about disruptions that have slashed Libya’s crude output.
Brent crude was down 24 cents, or 0.4%, at $64.35 a barrel, after dropping 0.3% on Tuesday. US oil fell 29 cents, or 0.5%, to $58.09 a barrel, having declined 0.3% the day before, CNBC reported.
The head of the IEA, Fatih Birol, said on Tuesday he expects the market to be in surplus by a million barrels per day in the first half of this year.
Libya’s National Oil Corp on Monday declared force majeure on the loading of oil from two major oil fields after the latest development in a long-running military conflict.
Unless oil facilities quickly return to operation Libya’s oil output will be reduced from about 1.2 million barrels per day to just 72,000 bpd.
Still, US crude production in large shale deposits is expected to rise to record highs in February, although the pace of increase is likely to be the lowest in about year, the US Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
Away from oil fundamentals, markets have been roiled by the emergence of a new strain of a coronavirus out of China amid concern about the impact of a possible pandemic on economic growth.