The price for Brent crude- the benchmark for oil prices in Asiaand Europe-rose to $103 a barrel last Thursday as violent protest continued in Egypt. This is the first time that Brent crude has cost over a $100 since 2008.
The crisis in Egypt, where citizens are protesting the current form of government, does not solely threaten the president, Hosni Mubarak, but also presents a potential threat to international trade, especially the trade of the crucial commodity, oil.
Egyptcontrols the Suez Canaland Summed pipeline, which transported 2.9 billion barrels of oil daily in 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Department in a Huffington Post article published last Thursday. If the riots and violence in Egyptaffect the flow of trade in the canal and pipeline, then oil will remain in demand, but become difficult to acquire.
“Certainly the Suez Canalregion is an important trade route, because it basically makes the Middle Eastmuch more accessible to European countries. Otherwise, they would have to go all the way around Africa, which takes so much longer,” noted junior theatre major Bobby Hunter.
No disruption or blockage of the Suez Canaland Summed pipeline occurred as of last Thursday, but the Egyptian army increased security around the canal and several shipping companies ordered no crew changes while in Egypt, according to a Huffington Post article published last Thursday.
“While the Suez Canal right now is still fully operational, fully functional, people are afraid within the coming days something might happen… which has caused many companies to kind of get ready for any of that change and increase the oil prices and increase the prices of any goods going through the Suez Canal,” stated sophomore neurology and physiology major Amr Bayomi who recently returned from a visit to Egypt.