Oil prices continued their climb on June 7, hitting an eight-month high above $51 per barrel. The price is propped up by expectations of U.S. crude draws and about potential supply shortages from attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry.
After the recent attacks on pipelines, Nigeria’s Bonny Light oil production is down by about 170,000 barrels per day. The Niger Delta Avengers militant group took responsibility for attacks and threatened to continue them, cutting the country’s production to zero.
According to the Reuters survey, US stockpiles fell by 3.5 million barrels last week, marking a third weekly decline in a row.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained 55 cents to $51.10 a barrel by 12:20 p.m. EDT (1620 GMT).
U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 raised 40 cents to $50.09.
Since reaching $27 per barrel in January, oil prices have almost doubled. Nonetheless, they are still much lower than they were in 2014 (over $100 per barrel).
