By Ben Rooney, staff reporter
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. oil prices briefly hit the $100-a-barrel for the first time in over two years Wednesday, as reports of Libyan oil production shutdowns swirled.
Italian oil giant Eni said Wednesday that it had partially shut down its 150,000-barrel-per-day production in the North African country.
Andrew Lebow, an oil broker at MF Global in New York, said the unrest has already cut Libya’s production by 300,000 barrels.
“But 300,000 barrels could be just the beginning,” he said. “The situation is very chaotic and it’s difficult to get good information, but the market is anticipating that more production will be lost.”
Oil industry executives told theFinancial Times that half of Libya’s production has been shut down. But Eni said those reports couldn’t be confirmed.
After hitting $100 a barrel earlier in the day, crude futures for April delivery ended the day up $2.68, or 2.8%, to $98.10 a barrel.
Brent crude, the European benchmark oil price, rose $5.72, or 5%, to $111.50 a barrel in extended trading.
Oil prices have surged this week as violence spread in Libya, the latest country to be swept up in a wave of anti-government protests that started earlier this year in Tunisia.
The rally continued Tuesday, as investors in the United States returned to work following the Presidents Day holiday and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi took a hard line — insisting that he is still in power and cracking down on the opposition.