Turmn Libya News Today

Going back to friday, youll see a sharp increase, $7.40 a barrel up. in london, meanwhile, thats brent oil, which is being described as a very close indicator of the risk in the market. the risk premium in the market as the middle east unrest continues. its coming off just slightly at 107 pounds a barrel. the -- its down about 14 cents. so i actually think that may be dollars, not pounds. libya, of course, produces more than 1 1/2 million barrels of oil a day. and as the anti-government protests...

The side of the protesters and that gave them a weapons and including ammunition and arms. and that allowed them to take control of the city. but tripoli is a very different scenario and what gadhafi warned about two nights ago there would be civil war in the country if these demonstrations and violence continued. >> updating us from egypt. andrew? now, emily, international oil companies are pulling their employees out of libya. royal dutch shell, and bp have all begun evacuation plans. bp say...

Down to stable. anti-government protesters there have taken over the eastern city of benghazi. libyas eastern region is home to almost all the countrys oil production and the turmoil has sent the price of oil soaring nearly 9% on the nymex. and thats having a marked effect on economies right across this region. emily? well, andreandrew, the turmn libya also hitting european stock markets. heres where they stand at the moment. shares fell sharply this morning on the ftse and in paris, as well. ...

Colonel gadhafi say dont believe the dogs in the media, im still here. andrew? meanwhile, in the eastern part of libya, electricity is still on and gas stations remain open. but the internet has been down for three days and the phone service is poor. ben wedeman has crossed into libya. he witnessed an exodus of egyptian workers crossing back into egypt across an unguarded border. >> reporter: well, the eastern part of the country does appear to be in full control of the anti-gadhafi forces. we...

Boost from the rugby world cup this summer is. scheduled to host seven games and two quarter finals. the world cup released a statement to the newspaper saying its too soon to talk about the implications for the tournament. the nzx share index down .7%, and the currency dropping by almost 1.8% against the dollar, and 1% against the yen. lets take a look at the broader asian markets, and there has been a sell-off going on this day, pretty much across the board too. certainly the earthquake adding...

>> reporter: were you up a few flights? >> no, we were on the ground floor. >> reporter: youve walked through the central city. >> just ruptured sewer lines and all the buildings all over the place. and just everythings pretty messed up at the moment. >> and make sure you stay with cnn as our coverage of the disaster in new zealand continues next hour. first, lets take another quick look at the stock markets. and here in europe, shares have pretty much fallen across the board as worries over l...

By, throwing projectiles into the air. we were told that with the fire set by elements of the egyptian -- of the libyan army. now, i was able to speak with one of the leaders of the anti-gadhafi movement in this part of the country. he told me that by and large the libyan army in the east has joined the anti-gadhafi forces. however, their concern at the moment is that there could very well be some sort of counterattack. >> well, people in libya say the situation has gone from bad to worse. with ...

By .5%, andrew. so seems to be a down day right across the world. the u.s. markets open today after a three-day holiday. and thats how theyre going to open at the moment, at least. thats what the futures look like, down by more than 1% for the dow, .5% for the nasdaq and .6 for the s&p 500. interestingly, this time yesterday, they would just about break even. but as the violence grows in libya, investors are becoming more nervous. certainly the oil price continues to spike, as well. meanwhil...

Emily? >> thanks, andrew. were following two big stories at this hour. well check on the violent unrest in libya. and well keep you up to date on the massive earthquake in new zealand.

For various goods and also industry finds it more and more expensive to keep the wheels of industry turning. and that is the reaction by investors to what the market will do when it opens in the u.s. today. it was closed yesterday for the presidents day holiday. and as you can see, the dow, looks like its going to open more than 1%. the nasdaq down by about .5%, the s&p 500 down .6%. this is "world business today" live on cnn. up next, more on the earthquake in new zealand. well be speaking to...