Brent crude oil in the North Sea once broke through 107 US dollars per barrel

The price of Brent crude oil in the North Sea once broke through 107 US dollars per barrel in the Asian crude oil market on the 22nd, hitting a record high for the past two years. The latest promoter of crude oil prices is the situation in North Africa and the Middle East.

In the Asian market, international oil prices hit a new height in the Asian market. Affected by the situation in North Africa and the Middle East, the Brent crude oil price in North Sea delivered in April this year rose by US$1.53 per barrel to US$107.27 per barrel on the 22nd.

In the Asian market, oil prices eventually closed at US$106.95 per barrel, up US$1.21, the highest since the second half of 2008.

On the New York market in the United States, light crude oil for delivery in March rose by US$7.20 per barrel to US$93.40 per barrel on 21st, and Brent crude oil for delivery in April rose US$8.05 per barrel to 97.76 dollars per barrel. Dollars.

The rise in oil prices at this stage was caused by the turmoil in the situation of the member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is part of the "OPEC."

According to some analysts, this round of turmoil in the OPEC member countries, whose main purpose is to export oil, has pushed the global oil industry to the “periphery”.

The real concern is the "situation"

At this stage, the focus of the situation is Libya. The proved reserves of crude oil rank first in African countries.

However, in terms of output, Libya ranks fourth in Africa, ranking second behind Nigeria, Algeria, and Angola; it produces 1.6 million barrels of crude oil a day, of which approximately 1.1 million barrels supply the international market and ranks 17th among the world's oil producing countries.

Libya exports crude oil through Egypt and most of them are exported to European countries, including Italy, Germany, Spain and France.

In North Africa and the Middle East, in some parts of the country that have experienced turbulence in the recent period, Egypt does not export crude oil, *** and Bahrain crude oil exports are limited, and Iran is the second largest exporter of crude oil after Saudi Arabia in OPEC. country.

“The market concerns are not limited to Libya,” Viktor Sam, an analyst at the international energy consultancy Perwen-Geetz, told reporters in Singapore. According to him, crude oil produced in North Africa and the Middle East may not be truly "cut off", but the situation is causing the market to feel "anxious."

The use of crude oil reserves as an option has the potential to restrict or limit crude oil production in certain North African and Middle East countries. Some oil industry analysts have begun to explore whether to use crude oil reserves.

According to David Fife, head of the oil industry and market department of the International Energy Agency, the members of the International Energy Agency now have a combined total of 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, equivalent to nearly six months of US imports.

So far, there have been two cases of large-scale use of government strategic reserves: the first was the launch of the Gulf War in Iraq in 1991, and the second was the 2005 Katrina hurricane attack on offshore oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fife said that the use of reserves is the last resort to stabilize the market.

However, he said that unlike the last round of 2008 international crude oil prices that rose sharply due to insufficient supply, OPEC members now have higher output, and they still have a lot of unused margin in terms of production capacity.

Japan's cabinet emergency measures Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan on the 22nd to recruit foreign ministers, finance ministers, ministers of economy and industry and other key members of the cabinet, held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in response to crude oil supply.

Before the meeting began, according to reports from the Kyodo News Agency, Naoto Kan said, "there is a possibility that the Middle East situation will affect Japan in many ways."

Japan’s energy requirements depend on imports, and 90% of crude oil imports come from the Middle East: Saudi Arabia accounts for 30% and the United Arab Emirates accounts for 25%.

On the supply of crude oil, Minister of Economy, Industry and Commerce Haejeon Wanri said that Japan “has established (crude oil) reserves and realized the diversification of crude oil supply (sources).” Although it has not imported crude oil from Libya for many years, he said, “The biggest risk is the price of crude oil because of the Middle East. The political instability has increased and dragged down the Japanese economy."

Talking about the impact of oil prices on the international market, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Minister Yeh Yee-hsin said that the strong position of the yen and other international settlement currency exchange rates at this stage can buffer the impact of rising oil prices, and Japan's domestic oil prices will not rise in a short period of time.