Oil in Global Economy Series: Libya violence unlikely to affect oil price much

Fighting has intensified in Libya,

• As Eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar’s force reaches Tripoli for a final showdown. Khalifa Haftar, who is a former General in Muammar Gaddafi’s force launched a campaign to take over Tripoli and oust the internationally recognized government. Last year, United Nations led by France brokered a truce agreement between Russia-backed Haftar and UN-backed government based out of capital Tripoli, but all were caught off-guard by a sudden offensive by General Haftar, who started taking control of one of the key assets - the oil fields especially since the beginning of the year.
• According to Red Cross, the campaign has already claimed more than 50 lives in the capital with hundreds injured as the fight rages between the two sides.
•  But that is unlikely to contribute to a higher oil price as Haftar has already secured control of the majority of the oil fields, and the latest round of violence unlikely to affect major oil fields, especially the Sahara oil field which is the biggest in the country.

WTI is currently trading at $64 per barrel, and Brent at $6.7 per barrel premium.