Brent crude settles above $113 amid Norway strike

Oil drilling rigs

Brent crude futures stabilized today, July 5, while US crude rose more than 1%, amid concerns about the impact of the workers' strike in Norway on global oil production, especially in light of tensions in Libya and the continued Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The oil and gas workers’ strike in Norway, which started today, is set to slash oil output by 89,000 barrels per day (bpd), with production dropping by 130,000 bpd as of tomorrow, July 6, which represents about 6.5% of Norway’s output, Reuters reported.

On the other hand, Bloomberg’s weekly data showed a 23% increase in crude oil flows from Russian ports during the past week, which compensates for most of last week's decline as a result of the suspension of shipments from Primorsk’s port on the Baltic Sea.

However, Russian shipments to Asia fell 15% for the fourth consecutive week, with Russian seaborne shipments in the four weeks to July 1 averaging 3.46 million bpd — the lowest levels since April 15.

Brent crude futures for September delivery settled at $113.45 a barrel at 09:11 am Makkah time.

US crude futures for August delivery, meanwhile, rose 1.47%, or $1.60, to $110.03 per barrel.