Prices of the OPEC Basket’s two key Atlantic Basin light sweet (low sulfur) crude grades – Saharan Blend from Algeria and Bonny Light from Algeria – soared to premiums of $8/B to key (medium sour) Saudi Arabian export grade Arabian Light during the second quarter of 2011 as war in Libya brought that country’s 1.5mn b/d production of mostly similar quality crude to a standstill. However with the rapid ramp-up in Libyan production from late 2011 longer-term trends began to re-assert themselves. Surging North American crude production, most of which is also light sweet, has depressed prices of Atlantic Basin grades – for which the US has traditionally been a key market – relative to those from the Gulf, whose main market is in the Far East. The strong economic performance of China has also boosted eastern demand for crude compared to crisis-racked Europe.