Oil prices jump above $99, protests spread to Oman

PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil prices jumped above $99 a barrel Feb 28 in Asia as Libya's violent power struggle continued to disrupt crude output in the OPEC nation. Violent protests in Oman also raised fears political upheaval could impact other crude exporters.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was up $1.51 at $99.39 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New YorkMercantile Exchange. The contract rose 60 cents to settle at $97.88 on Feb 25, The Associated Press reports.

In London, Brent crude for April delivery was up $1.37 to $113.51 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

As fighting between supporters and opponents of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continued over the weekend, foreign oil companies scrambled to evacuate staff. The chaos in Libya's oil industry has cut production by at least 750,000 barrels daily, down from its normal capacity of 1.6 million barrels, the International Energy Agency reported late Feb 25.

Investors are worried that anti-government protests that have convulsed societies across North Africa and the Middle East this year could spread to other oil-rich countries.

On Feb 27, riot police in Oman battled pro-democracy demonstrators, killing at least one person. In Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, more than 100 leading Saudi academics and activists have joined calls for King Abdullah to enact sweeping reforms, including relinquishing many powers under a constitutional monarchy. Traders are also beginning to calculate how much rising fuel costs will undermine consumer spending and global economic growth.