NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Though OPEC ministers said the market will determine the floor, crude oil prices rallied Monday on word Libyan clashes closed two key oil terminals.
Global crude oil prices have lost roughly 40 percent of their value since June as weak economic outlooks and higher oil production from North American shale basins skews markets toward the supply side.
Brent, the global price benchmark, rallied Monday to trade nearly a full dollar higher than the previous session to grab $62.55 for the January contract. Brent trended lower last week after the International Energy Agency trimmed its demand forecast for 2015.
IEA's forecast followed similar predictions from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose members in November kept production levels static despite downward pressure on crude oil prices.
On Sunday, Emirati Oil Minister Suhail al-Mazroui told Gulf News there was no panicking among member states despite the steep price decline.
"We decided to leave it to the market to balance," he said.
Markets last week shrugged off signs the U.S. labor market had improved and continued shedding value. During the weekend, a planning official at the state-run National Oil Co. in Libya confirmed to The Wall Street Journal the oil ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf were shuttered because of armed clashes in the region.
Combined, the two ports can handle a combined 560,000 barrels of oil per day, about half of the country's total export capacity.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, posted modest gains early Monday, but stayed well below the threshold $60 per barrel for the January contract.
