Oil Prices Cool After Recent Rally

West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed, having climbed above $60 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since 2015. The pipeline, which carries crude to Libya’s biggest export terminal, is said to need about a week for repairs. The operator of the critical Forties Pipeline System in the North Sea lifted all restrictions on flows caused by a crack earlier this month. Libya’s production dropped to 950,000 barrels a day on Wednesday, a person directly involved in the matter said. Output was 1.08 million barrels a day as of Dec. 18, indicating a decline of 12 percent. Loadings at Es Sider port are said to be down about 50 percent. The port was scheduled to ship 13 cargoes this month, each carrying 600,000 barrels of crude, according to a loading plan obtained by Bloomberg. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures were little changed in New York after falling 0.8 percent Friday. Prices still capped a fifth weekly gain last week, the longest run since October 2016. The plan to boost security was reported by Al-Arabiya television on Saturday, citing the energy ministry of Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter. The pipeline resumed pumping later in the day after a brief halt. Oil has climbed about 20 percent since the start of September as global supplies tighten and speculation mounts that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend output curbs past the end of March. In the U.S., drillers last week increased the rig count by the most since June, according to Baker Hughes. “Political developments in Saudi Arabia sent bullish ripples across the energy complex,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. Click Read More below for additional information.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $2.234; Month Ago: $2.185; Year Ago: $2.583. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $2.431; Month Ago: $2.432; Year Ago: $2.933.