Oil prices rose on Tuesday

International benchmarks for oil prices inched higher on Tuesday (19 April) as several production outages which temporary took nearly two million barrels per day off the market, and essentially brings supply back to balance with demand. This has had the market totally ignore the failure to reach any output freezing agreement during the 17 April meeting between world’s major oil producers. WSJ reported oil-worker strike for the third day in Kuwait has removed 1.3 million barrels a day from the market, and alleged pipeline sabotage in Nigeria and payment disputes in Iraqi Kurdistan have also added to the loses. Some analysts speculate that strike in Kuwait might last up to 10 days.

WTI closed at $41.08/b (+$1.30) May delivery

Brent closed at $44.03/b (+$1.12) June delivery