Barclays Capital said 1 m barrels of Libyan output is "locked in", with the other 0.6 m at risk. While Saudi Arabia may respond by raising the output, it takes time and its oil is not a substitute for "Sweet Crude the Libya".
The crisis escalating triggered falls more on the global stock exchanges. Wall Street was down 1pc in trade at the beginning and the FTSE 100 1. 2pc. The Dow Jones index has shed more than 300 points during the three days of 12,075.
Nomura said a closure in Libya and Algeria would reduce global 2.9 m b/d supply and reduce the ability of spare OPEC b/2.1 m d, comparable to levels at the beginning of the Gulf war and worse than during the 2008 spike when prices hit $147.
Two price shocks preceded by - or triggered - a recession in Europe and the United States. Fatih Birol, Chief Economist, International Energy Agency said the last rising already become prices a "serious risk" for the fragile economies of OECD block.
Some analysts fear the underlying image is worse than officially recognized doubting Saudi claims of alternative ample capacity. Wikileaks cable cited comments by geologist of Saudi Aramco oil giant that Kingdom reserves had been exaggerated by 40pc. A second cable cited U.S. diplomats asking if the Saudis "more empowered to make prices downwards for an extended period."
Report from Nomura, who consider the scenario catastrophic to a real crisis in the Gulf, said recent oil price shocks have shown a pattern of three floors, with a final blow-off price in the final phase. The current crisis is the first step.
Soaring oil prices create a dilemma for banks, nasty because they inflationary if caused by the robust global growth, but the deflationist if caused by a tightening of supply which acts as a tax on consumption of nations. Big oil exporters tend to save additional revenues for first price spikes, so the initial effect is draining global demand.
The current image contains elements of both, with an extra touch of liquidity created by the US Federal Reserve leaking into the global system and play havoc with commodity prices.
Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner told us Wednesday that the global economy is relatively stong to "manage" the oil shock, insisting on the fact that central banks "have extensive experience in the management of these things."
The European Central Bank (ECB) responded to skyrocketing oil in July 2008 by raising rates even if the Germany and the Italy were in recession at that time there. Nout Wellink, the Governor of Dutch of the ECB, said that this was an error policy.
Circumstances are different this time still also dark. ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet scored last month that the Bank will be "look at" the hump of prices in the short term, but the ECB rhetoric has since then harden. Fed doves will probably give more weight to the deflationary risks.
Jeremy Leggett, a leader of the task force industry UK peak oil and energy security, says the crisis Mid-East "shows the extreme fragility of the world system." People don't realize the proximity we a potential jump if that agitation reached critical mass in OPEC countries enough. "Governments must develop contingency plans and get cracking on proactive steps while we still have time", he says.
Charles Robertson in the Capital of the Renaissance, said concern actual harass investors is what happens in oil-rich Province Saudi Arabia Eastern home of Kingdom restless minority Shi'ite. The Saudis produced with FP6 11 of world production, but a more significant share of exports.
It does y potential serious tensions and not only among the Shiites. High unemployment and the youth bulge means disorders could be anywhere in the country. If Saudi Arabia or Iran is gobbled up, we have a serious problem. »
On Wednesday, the Saudi King Abdullah has unveiled $restriction of social aid for his people.
Energy & Utilities and positions vacant Oil & Gas jobs Telegraph
