Oil extends losses as Libyan supplies to return

LONDON, July 3 (AFP): Oil extended losses on Thursday on prospects that Libya will begin exporting more crude into a global market flush with supplies, while easing concerns about the Iraqi crisis also weighed.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August dropped 59 cents to stand at $110.65 a barrel in London midday trade.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August fell 67 cents to $103.81 a barrel.
Prices dropped after Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani on Wednesday declared that authorities have regained control of export terminals blockaded by rebels.
Crude was down "due to the relatively quiet situation in Iraq and the Libyan port deal, both of which kept supplies up", said analyst Sanjeev Gupta at consultancy EY.
Libyan production has been severely limited for a year after rebels last summer blockaded terminals as part of a campaign to restore autonomy in the country's eastern region.
Its output currently stands at about 320,000 barrels per day, about a fifth of its normal output.
Rebel leader Ibrahim Jodhran said the lifting of the blockade on the Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra terminals is in line with an April deal with Tripoli, and a sign of goodwill towards the new parliament elected last week.
The reopening of the two terminals will "add 500,000 barrels of crude per day into the global energy market", Gupta said.
The government already has control of two other terminals that had been blockaded.
Concerns over a possible supply disruption due to Iraq's security crisis have meanwhile eased, analysts said.