Oil futures settled marginally down to a three-week low Thursday after Libya declared an end to the crisis that has hampered its exports for more than a year.
NYMEX August crude settled at $104.06/barrel, down 42 cents; ICE August Brent ended 24 cents lower at $111/b.
In products, NYMEX August ULSD settled 1.77 cents lower at $2.9284/gal, while August RBOB ended 42 points lower at $3.0198/gal.
Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani declared the country's oil sector crisis "over" after the government reached an agreement with rebel leaders, allowing the government to take back control of the major eastern oil terminals at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf.
Still, doubts remain among market players and analysts as to when exports will actually resume from the two ports and whether the newly found harmony in Libya can be sustained for any length of time (See story, 1340 GMT).
Meanwhile, the petroleum complex extended the week's decline as "emotions have swung from concern to relative complacency over the battle for control of Iraq as production from the major southern oil fields remains unaffected," said Tim Evans, commodity analyst at Citi Futures Perspective.
Analysts also noted that even reconsideration of the more bullish aspects of Wednesday's US Energy Information Administration petroleum report was not enough to turn the market to the upside.
The report showed US crude stocks declined a larger-than-expected 3.2 million barrels last week. At the same time, crude stocks at the NYMEX contract delivery point at Cushing, Oklahoma, fell 1.3 million barrels, putting stocks at the hub at a 48.5% deficit to the EIA five-year average.
