While these antics may focus the cameras on themselves, the price of Brent crude oil is rising everyday, and the cheapest option lies in Canada.
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The price spread between Brent crude oil, the European benchmark and West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, widened sharply because of the loss of Libyan crude oil production.
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Brent crude, the oil benchmark, has gained nearly 12% since the end of June, while natural gas has dropped 1.3% and coal has dropped more than 10%.
"We need a better global benchmark for crude oil than the Brent marker, " said Torbjorn Kjus, oil market analyst at DnB NOR.
However, investors should also keep in mind that average prices for crude oil (Brent, WTI, Alaska North Slope) in Q4 2012, have generally remained in line with the previous quarters.
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The diversion of oil from the Midwest will narrow the gap between the West Texas Intermediate Oil and the Brent Crude.
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But now, the rioting has spread to Libya and Iran, and the prices of Brent Crude, and West Texas Intermediate Oil have jumped upward.
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Brent crude prices have fallen on hopes that oil production in Libya will return soon, even though those assumptions may prove to be overly optimistic.
The major part of oil shipments by international producers is denominated in Brent crude, so talk of a commodity supercycle lacks credibility.
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The oil flowing into Cushing contributed to a crude oil bottleneck there, and was one of the reasons that the Brent-WTI differential developed.
Concerns over the surging cost of Brent crude are growing as analysts warn that Europe could be at the center of an oil-price shock.
Brent crude's position as the accepted benchmark for pricing most of the world's oil is coming under fire, as experts in the oil market say the blend doesn't reflect true global supply and demand.
But US oil prices are subdued, having lost their long-time link with the Brent crude benchmark.
Margin requirements in the spotlight this week again after the CME Group, owner of futures exchange NYMEX, announced a 25% hike in collateral requirements for crude oil futures, putting initial, and short-lived, pressure on WTI and Brent prices.
Oil prices dropped in Asia, with US light crude down by 1.9%, and Brent crude sliding 1.6%.
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