what if this spreads to other countries, some place like saudi arabia? reporter: for the oil markets, what s important is not just the quantity of oil, it s the quality. libyan crude is sweeter and contains less sulfur than saudi arabia s, so it s easier for european refiners to use libyan oil to make diesel fuel. it s more efficient for a lot of refineries, especially in europe, to run lower sulfur crude in order to get lower sulfur diesel products. it s simply more efficient. if you take a lower sulfer crude, you are simply getting more barrels of low sulfur diesel, which is in higher demand over there. reporter: the u.s. and other nations also have the option of dipping into emergency oil reserves to drive down prices. but oil analyst faisel khan does not think it s necessary. there seems to be plenty of crude oil in the u.s. you ve got plenty of crude coming down from canada. u.s. domestic production has been growing, mexican production has kind of stabilized, and
two after russia. the third-largest producer may be even more surprising it s the united states, followed by iran and china. libya is the 17th largest producer, with less than 2% of the world s supply. saudi arabia already has started to increase production to compensate for the loss of roughly a million barrels per day of libyan oil. but oil expert jeff mower says there s an even bigger worry than making up for lost libyan oil. there is a concern that what if this spreads? i imagine that s part of the crude price rally recently. what if this spreads to other countries, some place like saudi arabia? reporter: for the oil markets, what s important is not just the quantity of oil, it s the quality. libyan crude is sweeter and contains less sulfur than saudi arabia s, so it s easier for european refiners to use libyan oil to make diesel fuel. it s more efficient for a lot of refineries, especially in europe, to run lower sulfur crude in order to get lower sulfur diesel pr
captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. my colleague susie gharib is off violence in libya has pushed crude oil to its highest level in 2.5 years. u.s. oil futures rallied to over $97 per barrel. brent crude oil ended at over $112 per barrel. one fear is supply, even though libya pumps less than 2% of the world s oil. opec has promised to open the spigots to make up for any lost production. but as erika miller reports, it s fear of bigger disruptions and worries about the type of oil being pumped that has the markets so nervous. reporter: quick, what s the largest oil-producing nation in the world? if you answered saudi arabia, you are wrong. ( buzzer ) that country is actually number two after russia. the third-largest producer may be even more surprising it s the united states, followed by iran and china. libya is the 17th largest producer, with less than 2% of the world s supply. saudi arabia already has started to increase production