Brent crude climbs most in a Month on Libya

Brent crude rose the most in a month amid concern that talks between the Libyan government and rebels won’t restore oil exports. West Texas Intermediate’s discount to Brent widened.

The European benchmark rebounded from the lowest level in almost five months. The rebels’ Executive Office for Barqa, representing the region of Cyrenaica, denied a report that the group will cede one of the four ports that have been under its control since July to the government in a few days. Libya’s oil output dropped to 250,000 barrels a day in March from 1.4 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It doesn’t look like the markets believe that an oil deal in Libya is imminent,” said Tom Finlon, Jupiter, Florida-based director of Energy Analytics Group LLC. “Brent prices are recovering on the fact that limited Libyan oil is still something to be expected.”

Brent for May settlement gained $1.36, or 1.3 percent, to end the session at $106.15 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the biggest gain since March 3. Volume was 30 percent above the 100-day average at 3:05 p.m. in New York. Prices fell to $104.79 last Thursday, the lowest settlement since Nov. 7.

WTI for May delivery climbed 67 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $100.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 17 percent below the 100-day average.

WTI was at a discount of $5.86 to the European benchmark crude. The spread shrank to $5.17 yesterday, the narrowest level since October. Brent is used to price more than half the world’s oil, including exports from Libya.