Libya's supply disruption, oil prices may hit a record high, and the Russia-Saudi summit still has no intention of increasing production

Protests erupted in Libya calling for Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to step down, forcing two of the country's ports to stop loading oil
.

The National Oil Corp.
(NOC) said on Sunday that it announced force
majeure at the port of Mellitah in western Libya after "a group of people" halted production at the El Feel field.
El Feel supplies the port with 65,000 barrels of oil
per day.
Near El Feel is also Libya's largest oil field, Sharara, which is responsible for transporting oil
to the port of Zawiya.

According to people familiar with the matter, the protests against Debeba also halted operations
at the Zueitina export terminal in eastern Libya.
Two people familiar with the matter said a tanker near the port was banned from loading 1 million barrels of oil
.

It is the latest in a series of disruptions to Libya's oil industry amid a worsening political crisis
.

According to data compiled by foreign media, the country's average daily crude oil production this year is only slightly more than 1 million barrels, down from nearly 1.
2 million barrels
in 2021.
The decline not only cost the country millions of dollars in oil revenue, but also exacerbated supply tensions
in the global oil market.

The NOC said on Sunday that the oil industry must be excluded from "external conflicts
.
" This is essential to "maintaining the poor infrastructure left over from random lockdowns and lack of budgets over the past few years"
.

After the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the price of Brent crude has soared above $110 a barrel
.
OPEC members, on the other hand, have struggled with oil supplies, mainly due to disruptions in African members' oil supplies, partially offsetting increased output
from Saudi Arabia and other major producers.

According to the IEA monthly report, OPEC+'s production increase in March was 40,000 b/d, 360,000 b/d
less than the planned target.
But Saudi Arabia and other major producers in the Persian Gulf have so far refused to respond to calls from Europe and the United States for
additional production increases.

Over the past weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Saudi crown prince discussed Ukraine, Yemen, and OPEC
.
They gave a positive evaluation
of the work in the form of OPEC+.
This is the second dialogue
between the two leaders since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

The Kremlin issued a statement saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed held telephone talks on Saturday, and the two sides made "positive comments"
on OPEC+ cooperation to stabilize the global oil market.

But the Saudi statement did not make precise reference to OPEC+ or energy cooperation, saying that "the Kingdom supports efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis through politics and achieve security and stability.
"

Iraq's oil minister later said we were under pressure
to continue to increase production outside the OPEC deal.
OPEC has promised to provide oil supplies to fill any crude shortfalls
.

WTI crude oil saw its biggest gain in two months last week, opening today as high as $108/bbl
.
The analysis said that oil prices rose at the beginning of the week due to the disruption of oil supply from Libya, coupled with Russia's warning that oil prices could hit record highs
if more countries ban their energy supply.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak said oil prices could "significantly exceed" all-time
highs if more countries join the ban on Russian energy imports.