Oil traded near a two-month low as Iran and Libya flagged export increases after U.S. producers expanded drilling amid a global supply glut. Futures rose 0.3 percent in New York after dropping 1.4 percent on Monday. Iran plans to double crude exports so long as the rise in shipments is absorbed by global markets, according to a senior official at state-run National Iranian Oil Co. Libya’s state crude producer is seeking to reopen oil ports and restore crude output, according to its chairman. Oil has retreated from more than $51 a barrel last month as a rally spurred by supply disruptions in Nigeria and Canada and falling U.S. output loses momentum. Prices remain up about 70 percent from a 12-year low in February, a recovery that has prompted American producers to return drill rigs to service. Machines targeting oil in the U.S. rose by 10 to 351, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website on June 8. “Some of the news coming out of Libya is showing signs that perhaps production could be set to begin picking up there again,” Angus Nicholson, a markets analyst in Melbourne at IG Ltd., said by phone. “The temporary disruptions in Libya and Nigeria have been a major contributor to some of the price gains and the lack of supply on the market of late.” West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was at $44.89 a barrel, up 13 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:46 a.m. Tokyo time. The grade fell 65 cents to settle at $44.76 on Monday, the lowest close since May 10. Total volume traded was about 53 percent below the 100-day average. Iranian Supplies Brent for September settlement gained 13 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $46.38 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark oil traded at a 75-cent premium to WTI for September delivery. Iran is exporting about 2 million barrels of its daily output of 3.8 million, said Mohsen Ghamsari, NIOC’s director of international affairs. It has regained about 80 percent of the market share it held before the U.S. and European Union tightened sanctions on its oil industry in 2012, he said. Libya’s four ports accounting for about 860,000 barrels a day in crude exporting capacity have been shut due to political turmoil and fighting. The nation now produces a fraction of the 1.6 million barrels a day it pumped before the toppling of ruler Moammar Al Qaddafi in 2011. A July 2 deal uniting the National Oil Corp.’s rival administrations enables the company to focus on reviving Libya’s crippled oil industry, Chairman Sanalla Ibrahim said. Oil-market news:
  • Petroleo Brasileiro SA expects to meet production targets, after years missing them, with the help of two new floating platforms that are coming online in the next few months, exploration and production head Solange Guedes said.
  • BP Plc faces more than $20 million in penalties and surrendered profits after a U.S. regulator found that the energy giant manipulated commodity markets in Texas.