Oil prices (CL=F, BZ=F) have come under pressure Tuesday morning, trading down slightly as geopolitical tensions continue simmering in Libya, the Red Sea, and Russia. TD Cowen analysts have also upgraded ExxonMobil (XOM) to "Outperform" while downgrading Chevron (CVX) to "Market Perform." Editor's note: This article was written by Angel SmithVideo TranscriptINES FERRE: We have seen oil prices wavering today. So that's part of the reason why you saw some pressure on oil prices. So the TD Cowen analyst talking about more compelling upside to ExxonMobil as the stock has declined with an unchanged valuation.

All evidence and testimony previously gathered in the proceedings against Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty, better known by his nickname “Lilu King,” is to be re-heard, after drug trafficking charges were added this morning. Elmushraty had been charged with money laundering, tax evasion and participation in organised crime, in May last year. At one stage, the court, too, had expressed disappointment at the lack of compelling evidence to back up the charges. His lawyers reacted with anger and surprise when the court read out and upheld the Attorney General’s request, asking for the offence of drug trafficking to be added to the charge sheet, this morning. The maximum sentence for drug trafficking is imprisonment for life.

The General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, held talks in Benghazi today with U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department, Joshua Harris and Chargé d’Affaires, Jeremy Berndt. According to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Libya, the Libyan army leader and the American diplomats discussed the importance of supporting the of efforts U.N. Envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily to “bring together institutional stakeholders and for Libyan leaders from all sides to work together to ensure a conducive environment for Libyans to freely choose their representatives as Libya prepares for the upcoming municipal elections.”“They also emphasized U.S. support for efforts to unify Libya’s military, safeguard Libyan sovereignty, and ensure reconstruction efforts in Derna and other flood-affected areas be carried out in a timely and transparent manner based in the assessments of experts and the needs of the people,” stated the American embassy.

Libya resumes production at major oilfieldTRIPOLILibya's state-owned energy firm has said production resumed at Al-Sharara oilfield, which provides a quarter of the country's daily oil output, two weeks after protests led to a shutdown. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced the "lifting of force majeure" and the resumption of "full production" at Al-Sharara, which normally produces up to 315,000 barrels per day. The NOC on Jan. 7 declared "force majeure" at the southwestern oilfield "due to the closure of the site by protesters." Repeated interruptions in crude production in the war-torn North African country have been caused by social and political protests amid clashes between rival factions. Libya sits on Africa's largest oil reserves but production has been frequently disrupted during over a decade of chaos since a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and killing of former dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

Norway's crude production rose to 1.85 million bpd in December, up from 1.81 million bpd the previous month and beating analysts' forecasts of 1.81 million bpd, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate. Halliburton's total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $5.7 billion, flat when compared to the third quarter of 2023. Operating income was $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, a 2% increase when compared to the third quarter of 2023. Expected fourth quarter finished product yield of 65%-67%, in line with previously forecasted range of 64%-68%. Average fourth quarter crack spreads on finished refined products declined 40% vs. third quarter average levels.

Oil prices were largely flat Tuesday after Libya restarted production at a major oilfield and as output slowly recovered in North Dakota after a winter storm. Libya restarted production at the Sharara oilfield on Sunday, which has the capacity to produce 300,000 barrels per day. Prices also edged lower as reports circulated that Israel had proposed a two-month pause of fighting in Gaza in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages. U.S. envoy Brett McGurk is travelling in the Middle East discussing the potential for another hostage deal and humanitarian pause in the fighting, according to the White House. A rescue package in China would raise oil demand expectations, said Phil Flynn, an analyst with the Price Futures Group.

Libya restarts production, exports from country’s largest oil field(Bloomberg) – Libya is restarting oil exports and production from its largest oil field after it had been shuttered for about three weeks. Production at Sharara, which previously pumped about 270,000 bpd, will resume and force majeure, a clause in contracts allowing deliveries to be suspended, will be lifted, the OPEC country’s state-run National Oil Corp. said in a statement. The restart came after the government in Tripoli agreed to implement most of the demands from protesters, Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan Boujannah told Libya’s Al-Ahrar TV earlier Sunday. Sharara’s closure cut Libya’s oil production to below 1 MMbpd for the first time in months. The North African nation managed to keep production stable at around 1.2 MMbpd for most of the last year.

Today, 22 January 2024, the Third Administrative Chamber of the Tripoli Court of Appeal took an important action in the ongoing high-profile litigation against NOC Chairman Farhat Bengdara. Specifically, the Court granted an interim order freezing the implementation of a corporate directive issued by Mr. Bengdara until the court can rule on whether his appointment as NOC Chairman should be invalidated on the grounds of his alleged dual Libya-UAE citizenship. A dual citizenship allegedly contravenes the Nationality Law (Law No. 24 of 2010) and the stipulations regarding public employment in Labour Relations Law (Law No. (libyaherald.com)NOC welcomes Aldabaiba’s reversal of Oil Minister’s decision to suspend chairman Sanalla (libyaherald.com)

The Attorney General’s Office announced that a person suspected of intentionally trafficking counterfeit medicines was arrested at Benghazi’s Benina Airport last Saturday (20 January). The suspect is accused of adulterating of the pain relief (Panadol – Paracetamol) and blood sugar regulating (Janumet – Sitagliptin, Metformin) medicines by counterfeit packages whose descriptions matched those of the approved drug packages to indicate the availability of its registered characteristics. The packages are then filled with ineffective materials and falsely marketed.

A delegation from the Narcotics and Psychotropic Drug Control Agency of the Libyan Ministry of the Interior is visiting the EMCDDA today for the first time. To date, Libyan representatives have taken part in several regional activities under the EU4Monitoring Drugs project, focusing on capacity building and data collection. In 2023, three representatives took part in a training session on building national drug observatories. Over the two days, the delegation will also meet representatives of the Portuguese Reitox focal point (ICAD) to discuss Portuguese drug policy. This meeting will offer the chance for the visiting delegation to present the Libyan drug policy framework and learn about the role of a national focal point and the use of data for the planning and monitoring national drug policy.

Libya’s Al Sharara Back in ProductionBy Mohammed Jetutu, in CairoThe prospect of Libya producing less than 900,000 Barrels per day of crude in January 2024, still remains, but the country has had a reprieve with the return of the Al Sharara field to production. Al Sharara is one of the largest single accumulations on duty in the country, with a production capacity of more than 300,000 barrels per day of oil. Production from block NC186 started in 2003. Al Sharara output has been, however, severely challenged since a NATO backed militia ousted Libya strongman Moamer Ghaddafi in 2011. What could be termed a relatively steady production at the Al Sharara field resumed in January 2017 after a two-year closure caused by a pipeline blockade from November 2014 to December 2016.

Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) has lifted force majeure on its giant El-Sharara oil field, which accounts for about a quarter of the country’s crude oil output, and was shut down for almost three weeks. The state firm confirmed the field restart on Jan. 21 while operator Repsol confirmed El-Sharara would ramp up to 260,000 barrels of oil per day over the coming days. Before the shutdown in January, NOC had enjoyed a period of production stability, pumping an average 1.2 million b/d per month over the last year. Upstream InvestmentThe field shutdown occurred ahead of a recent conference held in Libya’s capital on Jan. 13-14. El-Sharara is operated by state Akakus Oil Operations, a joint venture of Repsol, TotalEnergies, OMV, Equinor and NOC.

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FILE - Newly elected 'International Organization for Migration' (OIM) director general Amy Pope, from the U.S. speaks during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 15, 2023. The U.N.'s migration agency is launching its first “global appeal” that seeks $7.9 billion to help people on the move and ensure smoother pathways to migration at a time when the fallout from climate change, conflict and both economic and political distress and opportunity has caused millions to leave their homes.

The meeting also tackled the current tensions in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Iraq, Syria, and the Red Sea and that are intertwined with the Gaza War. The two officials also discussed the armed conflict in Sudan so as Minister Shokry expressed hope that EU would help on the humanitarian level. In that framework, he expressed keenness on boosting cooperation with the EU in the fields of legal migration, vocational training programmes, and technical education. In a related context, Minister Shokry warned of the repercussions of the crises in Sudan, Libya, and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Further, he discussed migration-related affairs with EU Commissioner for Promoting European Way of Life Margaritis Schinas.