Oil price rises 2% in Asia as supply is threatened by Canadian wildfire

At the start of Asia’s Monday oil trading session, oil prices increased more than 2% as supply outages persisted over the weekend from Canada’s wildfires that have shut half the country’s vast oil sands capacity.

U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate futures were up US$1.15, or 2.6%, at US$45.81 a barrel by 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 GMT) in New York on Sunday, after opening at US$45.

Brent crude futures rose US$1.02, or 2.2%, to US$46.39, after opening at US$45.75.

In another shock for oil markets, on Saturday Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree that replaced its long-time oil minister Ali al-Naimi with Khalid al-Falih, chairman of Saudi Aramco, as part of a broad reshuffling of the cabinet.

The move came as the world’s largest oil producer continues to grapple with the fallout from the global bear market in crude oil.

Source: CNBC