Oil Price Digest

Crude Oil Crude prices were mixed yesterday after apparently bearish data from the DOE. While Brent futures rose by 29 cents to settle at $ 54.49/bbl., WTI gave up 7 cents to settle at $ 49.09 /bbl. As expected, the market did not pay much attention to the DOE data, which showed that stocks were affected less adversely than was originally feared. The WTI-Brent spread is, at – $ 5.40 is the highest we have…

Crude Oil Crude crude prices continued to climb steadily in a new wave of bullish sentiment. Brent futures rose by $ 0.82 to settle at $ 54.20/bbl., its highest close in several days. WTI settled up $ 0.50 at $ 49.16 /bbl. The market is anticipating strong demand for crude for the restarting refineries and regeneration of stocks that have been depleted during the shutdown. The market is also watching Hurricane Irma warily as it…

Crude Oil Crude crude prices ended sharply higher yesterday as life returned to normal post Harvey. Brent futures rose by $ 1.04 to settle at $ 53.38/bbl., its highest close in several days. WTI settled up $ 1.37 at $ 48.66 /bbl, its highest close in 3 weeks. While part of this rise is attributable to  concerns about severe depletion of stocks, this does seem to be a bit of a boomerang effect. With stocks…

Crude Oil Brent Crude ended up lower on US Labor Day holiday. The front month future eased by 41 cents to settle at $ 52.34/bbl. Since the NYMEX was shut, no settle was recorded for WTI. However, WTI prices were being reported higher as more refineries resumed operations. As of Monday afternoon, 2.1 mb/d of refining capacity was still reported as shut by the US Department of Energy. This would mean that approximately 50% of…

Crude Oil Crude prices stayed virtually unchanged on Friday.  The November future, which became the  front month today, lost 9 cents to settle at $ 52.75/bbl. WTI gained 6 cents to settle at $ 47.29 / bbl. Gasoline futures eased out as some refineries started resuming operations which led to a further calming of tension. Of the estimated 4.5 mb/d capacity shut down by Harvey, it is expected that 1.1 mb/d or about 25% should…