Global markets continue to reel as crude oil tests new limits, thanks to unsteady and/or disrupted production in North Africa and the Middle East. Oil prices in Europe and in the U.S. both crested the $100 per barrel mark in after-hours trading, and Asian stock markets responded by selling off in early trading Wednesday.
From a production standpoint, Libya ranks seventh among the OPEC nations and typically produces 1.6 million barrels of oil per day. Those numbers have come to a complete halt as thousands of oil-field workers have fled the country while rebels battle forces still loyal to the country’s ruling regime.
Unrest in other oil-producing countries, in particular, Oman, Iraq, and Iran, is adding to fears that disruptions could be larger, and longer, than originally anticipated.