WASHINGTON – Oil prices shot up eight percent to $93.36 a barrel in New York opening trade Tuesday as worries about unrest in Libya hit the market. Prices jumped $7.16 a barrel for the WTI crude contract in the first day of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange since violence escalated in key North African oil exporter Libya over the weekend.
US oil prices in the past month had been relatively immune to Middle East political turmoil due to the heavy stockpiling in US oil depots, while London prices had risen significantly. In London earlier Tuesday Brent North Sea crude rose more than two dollars from Monday to $107.75 on Libya fears.
