Crude oil futures jumped to their highest level in over 10 months on continuing reports of ongoing supply disruptions in Nigeria as a result of attacks on the country´s energy infrastructure by militants.
However, after the close of trading, Nigerian officials announced that the decision had been taken to “de-escalate” the military´s presence in the Niger Delta, the country´s key oil-producing region.
Some observers believed that the new president´s security policies might have inadvertently triggered the wave of attacks that has seen the country´s oil output reduced to its lowest in 27 years, at about 1.4m barrels per day, according to Bloomberg data.
Earlier in the day, Shell´s finance chief Simon Henry said the company had withdrawn repair teams working on the key piece of infrastructure, the Forcados export pipeline, due to its inability to ensure the safety of its staff…….
