Oil prices have climbed to their highest level in 30 months in London as Libya’s uprising reduced shipments and sparked fears of unrest spreading across the Middle East.
Brent crude hit $119 a barrel for the first time since August 2008.
Major western oil companies, such as Italian firm Eni and Spain’s Repsol-YPF, have suspended production, while BP has evacuated staff.
Fears of the impact of soaring oil prices on the economy may have been the cause of drop in the FTSE 100 index of by 1% earlier today.
The rise in oil prices is expected to filter through to garage forecourts in the next few weeks, leading to an estimated 6c per litre increase to Petrol prices by April .
Heating oil prices are probably going to increase in the coming weeks too
Libya accounts for only 2% of the world’s oil supply but Europe takes about 50% of its oil from Libya and will have to source oil from elsewhere and possibly pay more for it.