Oil Flows Slump for Fourth Straight Month
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The seaborne flow of oil fell for a fourth straight month in September on the back of hefty declines from Libya, where a political row spilled over into supply disruptions.
Global shipments slumped to 37.6 million barrels a day. More than two-thirds of the total month-on-month decrease — 628,000 barrels a day — came from Libya, tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The North African country’s output almost halved because rival factions couldn’t agree on who should be the nation’s key central bank official — a spat that now appears to have been resolved.
It means the global seaborne flow of oil has dropped by 1.85 million barrels a day since May, a reminder of the susceptibility of the market to localized disruptions at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Traders are now closely watching what steps Israel will take after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at its foe on Oct. 1.
After Libya, there were also large declines in shipments from west Africa and several other large exporters. There were gains from nations including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
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