LIBYAN CLASHES HITS STOCKS AS OIL PRICES SURGE

Fears that Libya is heading toward deepening chaos hit stocks on February 21 and pushed oil prices sharply higher. With reports suggesting that over 300 people have been killed in clashes across the country, which have spread to the capital Tripoli, investors are getting increasingly worried about the escalating violence in one of Africa’s biggest oil producers. Those concerns were heightened by a statement from Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of Libya’s longtime leader Moammar Qaddafi. Blaming everyone from drug addicts to the media for the current turmoil afflicting Libya, he warned that civil war was a real possibility and that his father would fight until “the last bullet.” Unlike Tunisia and Egypt, which have already seen popular uprisings that deposed longtime leaders, Libya is a member of producer cartel OPEC and has a direct impact on global oil production. The country is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, accounting for around 2 per cent of global daily output, and has the biggest proven oil reserves in Africa. Already three leading oil companies, Italy’s ENI, Norway’s Statoil and Britain’s BP, have already said they are pulling some employees out of Libya or preparing to do so.