Oil Prices Spike as Libya’s Eastern Government Announces Halt to All Production

Oil prices jumped by nearly 3% early on Monday, buoyed by fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East and Libya’s rival government in the east announcing the closure of all oilfields, production, and exports. The Benghazi-based government in eastern Libya, which is a rival to the Tripoli-based government in the politically divided North African OPEC producer, said on Monday it would shut down all crude oil output and exports. The threat to Libyan oil production and exports follows the move from the Tripoli-based government to replace…