The price of Brent crude declined below $97 a barrel today due to excess supply and a strong US dollar, which outweighed concerns over growing political tensions in the Middle East.
Reuters reported that Brent declined 25 cents to $96.70 a barrel and US crude was down 10 cents to settle at $92.70 a barrel.
Escalating tensions in the Middle East and North Africa have raised concerns over a potential oil production disruption in several Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) regions.
Despite an attack by a war plane on the Libyan port of Benghazi on Wednesday, the country’s total national production has gone up.
A National Oil official was quoted by Reuters as saying that Libya’s oil production has increased to 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 800,000 bpd earlier in the week.
OPEC secretary-general Abdullah al-Badri said last week that the group plans to decrease its output target due to declining prices.
However, United Arab Emirates oil minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said earlier this week that the plan was premature to be taken before the OPEC meeting, which is scheduled in November.
According to data from the Energy Information Administration, US crude stockpiles declined suddenly last week since the imports dropped to their lowest level in four months.
Although analysts expected an increase of 386,000 barrels, crude inventories declined 4.3 million barrels in the week ending 19 September.
