(Refiles to correct typographical error in headline.)
TOKYO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on
Wednesday, extending the previous session's drops, as investors
continue to shrug aside the impact of almost all of Libya's
crude production being off-line amid plentiful supplies
elsewhere.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 13 cents, or 0.2%, at $64.46 a
barrel at 0119 GMT, after dropping 0.3% on Tuesday. U.S. oil
CLc1 fell 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.22 a barrel, having
declined 0.3% the day before.
Libya's National Oil Corporation on Monday declared force
majeure on the loading of oil from two major oil fields after
the latest development in a long-running military conflict saw
forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar ordering the shutdown
of facilities in the east and south of the country. "Market participants are already starting to fade this story
– believing that this is a transitory outage," said Helima
Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
However, Croft warned that the "multi-year proxy war leaves
Libyan production at high risk for extended outages and there
are no indications that the country is close to turning the
corner."
Unless oil facilities quickly return to operation Libya's
oil output will be reduced from about 1.2 million barrels per
day (bpd) to just 72,000 bpd.