Oil Price Hits $50/Barrel Far Above President Buhari's 2016 Budget Benchmark

The price of oil has gone above $50 a barrel for the first time in 2016 as supply disruptions and increased global demand continue to fuel a recovery.


The benchmark Brent crude price hit $50.07 a barrel in Asian trade.

President Muhammadu Buhari 2016 budget oil benchmark was pegged at $38 per barrel as at when the global market is suffering from fallen oil price amidst uplifting of iran sanction.

The rise followed US data on Thursday showing that oil inventories had fallen, largely due to supply disruptions following fires in Canada.

Brent crude has now risen 80% since it hit 13-year lows of below $28 a barrel at the start of the year.

US crude oil inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels to 537.1 million barrels in the week to May 20, according to US Department of Energy data.

Talks in recent months between OPEC and Russia about freezing oil production had already helped prices recover.

Short-term disruptions to oil supplies in Canada, attacks by militant groups continue to restrict oil pipelines in Nigeria have also lifted the price, as they have offset higher production from Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Adam Laird, an investment manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, told the BBC: “This is an area that’s been starved of resources and investment and that psychological barrier [of $50] could be enough to make some executives reassess.”