Oil prices rise on looming Norway strike, but Brexit still weighs

By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose in early
trading in Asia on Tuesday as a looming strike in Norway
threatened to cut output in western Europe's biggest producer,
although Britain's vote to leave the European Union was still
weighing on markets.
About 755 Norwegian workers on seven oil and gas fields
could go on strike from Saturday, hitting output from the North
Sea's top producer, if a new wage deal is not agreed before a
Friday deadline.
A final round of mandatory talks will be hosted by a state
mediator on June 30 and July 1 in an effort to avoid disruption
that could start the following day.
The affected fields account for nearly 18 percent of
Norway's oil output and a little more than 17 percent of its
natural gas, Reuters calculations show.
Combined oil output was about 285,000 barrels per day in the
first four months of the year, with natural gas output at 48.5
million cubic metres (mcm) per day.
London Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $47.58
per barrel at 0032 GMT, up 42 cents from their previous
settlement.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were up 35
cents at $49.68 a barrel.
But the price rises came after oil fell to 7-week lows in
the previous session on the back of a soaring dollar, which
makes fuel imports more expensive for countries using other
currencies and potentially hits demand, and as market turmoil
over Britain's vote to leave the EU continued to cause market
turmoil.
"Crude oil led the sector lower as investors continued to
dump risky assets. Oil was also weighed down by news that a
successful ceasefire in Nigeria has allowed repairs to oil
pipelines that has restricted the country's ability to export
oil," ANZ Bank said.
Oil production in Nigeria has risen to about 1.9 million bpd
from 1.6 million bpd due to repairs and more than a week having
passed since a major pipeline attack in the Niger Delta, a state
oil company spokesman said on Monday. by Joseph Radford)