Apr 19, 2022 12:05AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
Oil prices rose on Tuesday as investors feared tight global supplies after Libya decided to halt some exports and as Shanghai refineries prepared to reopen after the COVID-19 shutdown, easing some demand concerns.
At 11:49 p.m. EDT, Brent crude futures were up 61 cents, or 0.5%, at $113.77 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 33 cents, or 0.3%, at $108.54 a barrel.
Gains were limited as the dollar traded at a new two-year high. A stronger dollar hurts oil buyers holding other currencies.
Both benchmark contracts gained more than 1% in the previous session after hitting their highest since March 28 in the wake of the political crisis in Libya. The country announced that it could not supply oil from its largest oil field due to political protests and closed another field.
The latest supply shortfall came at a time when fuel demand was expected to increase in China, the world's biggest oil importer, as it prepares to reopen production facilities in Shanghai.
However, oil prices remain vulnerable to demand shocks as China continues to impose tight restrictions to contain the COVID outbreak.
Innes added that the Libya outage shows how strongly oil markets react to supply shocks.
Meanwhile, the possibility of a ban on Russian oil by the European Union over the invasion of Ukraine continues to keep the market on edge. On Tuesday, Ukraine said that Russia, which described its actions as a "special operation," had launched a new offensive in the east of the country.