Confidence has been restored in Libyan oil exports upon news that Baghdad's southern oil fields would remain untouched by Islamic forces, according to the International Energy Agency's oil market report for July.
Concerns over Islamist forces gaining ground in Iraq surged oil prices to a nine-month high at US$115 per barrel, which later reversed as confidence grew in the ability to make regular supplies resulting in oil prices receding to $108 per barrel on Friday.
In July 2013, a separatist group seized and closed down four oil ports in eastern Libya after accusing port officials of corruption in connection with the country's oil exports. On July 2 this year, the separatist group handed two eastern oil ports over to government authorities.
Oil prices, however, actually passed the nine-month high levels after militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized vast swathes of territory in northern Iraq, raising fears that they might next set their sights on the capital Baghdad.
The International Energy Agency's report indicated that global oil supplies remained largely unchanged at 92.6 billion barrels per day as lower Iraqi oil production was compensated with increased production by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nigeria and Angola.
Anadolu Agency