Oil Plunges to $45 as US Drillers and Libya Pull the Plug on OPEC

Oil fell, extending four weeks of declines, as U.S. drillers continue adding rigs and Libya boosts output, blunting OPEC-led efforts to re-balance an oversupplied market.

Oil plunged below $45 a barrel last week.

Libya is producing the most oil in four years after a deal with Wintershall AG enabled at least two fields to resume production.

OPEC has sought to reduce bloated oil stockpiles to the five-year average, but increasing numbers of drilling rigs in America, as well as rising output in Libya, are putting that target in jeopardy.

U.S. drillers increased the rig count by six to 747 last week, the highest level since April 2015. American crude production has expanded to 9.33 million barrels a day, Energy Information Administration data show.

Libya’s oil production has risen to about 900,000 barrels a day after some fields restarted and the country’s biggest deposit, Sharara, increased output. Libya, exempt from the OPEC deal, plans to boost output to the highest since 2013 by the end of July.