Libya Oilfields

Oil prices have been underpinned by Ecuador, Libya and Nigeria declaring forces majeures this month on part of their oil production because of maintenance issues and oilfield shutdowns.

Islamic State is looking at potentially vulnerable oil assets in Libya and elsewhere outside its Syria stronghold, where the militant group controls about roughly 80 percent of the oil and gas fields, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Two Bangladeshi citizens, among a group of foreign workers taken hostage by the Islamic State militant group in an attack on a Libyan oilfield, have been released after more than two weeks, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry said today.

Militant gunmen attacked Libya's al-Ghani oilfield on Friday, killing 11 guards, beheading some of them, before local forces fought back to retake control, an oil security official said.

Islamist militants on Monday shelled Libya's Bahi and Mabrouk oilfields, damaging a pipeline to Es Sidra oil port, said Ali Hassi, a spokesman for forces protecting energy infrastructure.

Brent crude traded close to $82 per barrel on Tuesday after hitting a four-year low, as a firm dollar and robust production from U.S. shale oilfields outweighed a drop in Libyan output.

The oil market received further support from news US private employers added 230,000 jobs in October, the highest total since June and exceeding economists' expectations, a report from a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Easing worries over possible disruptions to supply from the conflict in Iraq also dragged on prices.In August Brent crude had declined 12 cents to $108.82 a barrel by 0318 GMT, down nearly 6 per cent from a nine-month high reached in June.

In 2009, top aides to Col. Moammar el-Gaddafi called together 15 executives from global energy companies operating in Libya's oil fields and issued an extraordinary demand: Shell out the money for his country's $1.5 billion bill for its role in the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other terrorist attacks. If the companies did not comply, the Libyan...

Oil prices have been underpinned by Ecuador, Libya and Nigeria declaring forces majeures this month on part of their oil production because of maintenance issues and oilfield shutdowns.

Islamic State is looking at potentially vulnerable oil assets in Libya and elsewhere outside its Syria stronghold, where the militant group controls about roughly 80 percent of the oil and gas fields, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Two Bangladeshi citizens, among a group of foreign workers taken hostage by the Islamic State militant group in an attack on a Libyan oilfield, have been released after more than two weeks, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry said today.

Militant gunmen attacked Libya's al-Ghani oilfield on Friday, killing 11 guards, beheading some of them, before local forces fought back to retake control, an oil security official said.

Islamist militants on Monday shelled Libya's Bahi and Mabrouk oilfields, damaging a pipeline to Es Sidra oil port, said Ali Hassi, a spokesman for forces protecting energy infrastructure.

Brent crude traded close to $82 per barrel on Tuesday after hitting a four-year low, as a firm dollar and robust production from U.S. shale oilfields outweighed a drop in Libyan output.

The oil market received further support from news US private employers added 230,000 jobs in October, the highest total since June and exceeding economists' expectations, a report from a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Easing worries over possible disruptions to supply from the conflict in Iraq also dragged on prices.In August Brent crude had declined 12 cents to $108.82 a barrel by 0318 GMT, down nearly 6 per cent from a nine-month high reached in June.

In 2009, top aides to Col. Moammar el-Gaddafi called together 15 executives from global energy companies operating in Libya's oil fields and issued an extraordinary demand: Shell out the money for his country's $1.5 billion bill for its role in the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other terrorist attacks. If the companies did not comply, the Libyan...