MONITORING DESK
ISLAMABAD: Oil prices surged for a second day on Tuesday oversupply concerns amid the shutdown of Keystone, an important pipeline to the US, and Russia’s hints at cutting down its production.
The pipeline shutdown has increased worries about a tight supply, even though oil prices had descended for months due to speculation of a weakening global energy demand.
West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, climbed 1.7 percent to $74.39 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international standard, gained 2 percent to $79.49 a barrel. Both contracts also saw an increase of over 2 percent on Monday.
Keystone’s uncertain shutdown
Keystone Pipeline, which ships 620,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Canadian crude to the United States, has been shut since last week following a rupture in Kansas.
TC Energy, Keystone’s operator has not yet released a timeline for the reopening of the pipeline.
Russia’s plan to lower oil production
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the country might lower production. The statement came after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) kept quotas unchanged as they met at the beginning of the month and enforced a $60 price cap on Russian exports.
