A drilling rig operates in the Permian Basin oil and natural gas production area in Lea County, New Mexico, US. File photo: REUTERS/NICK OXFORDOil prices rebounded on Wednesday as a drop in US oil inventories and concerns over tighter supplies from Russia and Libya drove a recovery from the previous session’s sharp losses.The front-month WTI crude futures contract, which expires on Wednesday, rose 78c, or 0.8%, to $103.34 while the second-month contract gained 69c to $102.74.
Global oil prices have been pulled higher by a tighter supply outlook after sanctions against Russia — the world's second-largest oil exporter and a key European supplier — over its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”. Various outages added to concerns about supply. Opec member Libya has been forced to shut down a number of oil facilities including the 300,000bpd Sharara oilfield because of a wave of protests.