Crude oil traded above $136 a barrel in New York after rising yesterday on a planned strike at Chevron Corp.'s Nigerian unit, which may disrupt supplies.
The Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or Pengassan, gave the company a deadline of June 18th to resolve a dispute over safety standards and staffing, a union official said yesterday.
A strike may halt about 350,000 barrels a day of output and 14 million cubic feet a day of gas at 32 fields in Africa's largest oil producer.
Crude oil for July delivery was at unchanged $136.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12.40pm.
Yesterday, oil rose 36 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to settle at $136.74 a barrel, after falling as much as $4.83. Futures reached a record $139.12 a barrel on June 6th.
Oil prices traded as high as $138.30 and as low as $130.80 this week, a range of $7.50.
Volatility is a measure of how far the price of a commodity deviates from average closing prices over a prior period, such as 30 or 365 days.
Oil futures traded in New York veered 40.7 per cent from the 30-day average today, according to Bloomberg data. They strayed 41.7 per cent from the average on June 11th, the highest volatility in 16 months.
Bloomberg