Oil prices rise due to Egypt unrest

Oil prices in the Asian markets rose sharply on Wednesday because of the ongoing unrest in Egypt, Aljazeera.net has reported. Brent Crude prices rose for a number of reasons, including the closure of Libyan oil fields which cut production by one-third last week.

The Chief Analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, Michelle McCarnie, expects the situation in Egypt to affect the rest of the Middle East. Although Egypt is not a significant exporter of oil, 4 million barrels pass through the Suez Canal every day. This is about 13 per cent of OPEC countries’ daily production.

According to McCarnie, dealers are monitoring the situation in Libya and Syria closely. The Head of Libya’s Energy Committee, Naji Mokhtar, said on Tuesday that chaos in the Libyan oil sector threatens the economy of the country and reduces government revenues. Libya currently produces 1.16 million barrels of oil a day.