Oil Jumps Towards $46 on Saudi Arabia, Canada Fires
Oil has opened over $1 higher in early Asia, currently trading just shy
of $46/barrel from $44.58 last Friday close, following news that Saudi
Arabia ousted its long-time oil minister Ali Al-Naimi.
Ali
Al-Naimi will be replaced by Khalid-al Falih, chairman of the state oil
company, Saudi Aramco. As Market Watch reports, "some saw the writing on
the wall for al-Naimi after major oil producers failed to reach a deal
to freeze production in Doha, Qatar last month."
Meanwhile, the
Alberta fires in Canada, may have also intensified fears of reduced
supply, with Reuters noting that capacity is much lower than what it
should be, as "co-generation power plants in Fort McMurray, Alberta,
were operating at about 23 percent of capacity by Sunday afternoon up
from around 18 percen tearlier in the day."