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Brent crude rises over $6 as Libya unrest cuts supplyhu Feb 24, 2011 4:28am ESTSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude oil jumped to its highest since August 2008 on Thursday on concern bloody unrest that has cut more than a quarter of OPEC-member Libya's output could spread to other producers including top exporter Saudi Arabia.Disruption stemming from the revolt in the world's No. 12 exporter Libya has cut at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the country's 1.6 million bpd output, according to Reuters calculations.Brent crude on Thursday spiked nearly $7 in the 90 minutes to 0800 GMT. It rallied as much as $8.54 or 7.7 percent a barrel to a peak of $119.79, trimming gains to trade up $6.00 at $117.25 by 0902 GMT. The contract has risen nearly 14 percent in four days.Reuters market analyst Wang Tao says technical charts show Brent could be on course for a rise to $158 per barrel in 2011, well above its 2008 high of $147.50, while he expects U.S. crude to touch $159 per barrel.U.S. crude for April delivery rose as high as $103.41, the highest September 2009. It traded up $4.31 at $102.41 at 0903 GMT.The cuts from Libya represent the first disruption to supply as a direct result of protests that have swept through the oil producing regions of North Africa and the Middle East.The concern for oil markets is how unrest might affect Saudi Arabia, which not only pumps around 10 percent of the world's oil but is also the only holder of significant spare crude production capacity that could be used to plug supply outages such as those being suffered by Libya."The situation in the Middle East is causing a lot of uncertainty in the market now, the risk of disruption to major producers in the region is what every investor is watching now,"said Ken Hasegawa, amodity derivatives manager at Newedge brokerage in Tokyo.Without Saudi Arabia's 4 million bpd of spare capacity, there is little margin in the global oil supply system to deal with output disruption.To date, the kingdom has escaped the popular protests against poverty, corruption and oppression that have raged across the Arab world, toppling the long-time leaders of Egypt and Tunisia and spreading as far as Saudi neighbor Bahrain.Goldman Sachs said on Thursday oil markets were driven by fear of contagion to other producing nations and that another disruption could create severe oil shortages and require demand rationing."The market cannot amodate another disruption, in our view, with the problems in Libya potentially absorbing half of OPEC's spare capacity," Jeffrey Currie said in a research note.Saudi King Abdullah returned home on Wednesday from a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth some $37 billion in an apparent bid to insulate the world's top oil exporter from the protests across the Arab world.Hundreds of people on Wednesday backed a Facebook page campaigning for a "day of rage" across the kingdom on March 11 to demand an elected ruler, greater freedom for women and the release of political prisoners. отговор Сигнализирай