Perfect storm of bad news on oil supply sends WTI crude over $120 a barrel
I suppose there is something else that could add to the supply of bad news today on oil supply, but we’ve already got a full dance card At 2 P.m. in New York U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded up 5.07% to $121.55 a barrel; international...
Oil falls as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates agree on production levels
The dispute over oil production quotas between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that blew up the OPEC+ meeting two weeks ago looks to be over. Under the compromise, the UAE will see its baseline production level rise to 3.65 million barrels per day when the...
Oil manages to creep higher today even with OPEC supply increase looming
Oil managed to close to the upside today, December 29, even though OPEC+ is set to add another 500,000 barrels a day to output starting in January. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate gained 0.76% to $47.98 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude climbed...
Oil falls to lowest level in five months; Brent breaks below $60 a barrel
Oil slumped to its lowest in almost five months and international benchmark Brent crude book below $60 a barrel today, June 12. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 4% today to $51.14 a barrel, threatening the $50 a barrel psychological benchmark. Brent fell...
U.S. stocks gently slide but VIX “fear index” continues retreat
If the market were inclined to sell off today, it could have found plenty of reasons. Under the heading of one-off scary stuff, I’d put: Continued tensions between the Saudis and just about everyone else over allegations–which look to be true–that...
More trade sanctions today–this time it’s Russia (with big implications for global oil supply)
The United States has imposed new sanctions on Russia as punishment for that country’s use of nerve agents in a March 4 attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the United Kingdom. The sanctions are required under the 1991 Chemical and Biological...The oil price that didn’t bark in the night
Sometimes it’s how the market doesn’t react that’s important. Today the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a surprising build in U.S. crude oil inventories of 5.8 million barrels for the week ended on July 13. This comes after a big...
Aggressive November 4 U.S. deadline on ending Iran oil exports threatens more oil market turmoil
Want to know how high oil can go? So do the oil markets, frankly. West Texas Intermediate closed today at $72.32 a barrel, up another 2.54%. The U.S. crude benchmark stood at $64.19 on June 15. That’s a gain of 12.7%. Lurking in the wings is a demand by the...
Oil soars on U.S. inventory report, supply fears
As of noon New York time today, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate is up 3.30%. International benchmark Brent is ahead 2.41%. The climb follows on data from the Energy Information Administration showing a huge draw of 9.9 millions barrels in U.S. crude stockpiles...
Now it’s the Saudis talking about increasing oil production
Yesterday, Russia sent oil prices tumbling by saying that it might be time for OPEC and its allies (including Russia) to revisit current production cuts. Today, it’s Saudi Arabia. “I think in the near future there will be time to release supply,”...
Russia and Saudi Arabia signal intent to revisit production curbs; oil retreats from three-year high
The energy ministers from Russia and Saudi Arabia will discuss a potential relaxation of the global output cap agreed between OPEC and Moscow when they meet on June 22. That was enough today to end the rally in oil. West Texas Intermediate fell to $70.71, down...
Oil prices up again on inventories, Middle East fears, OPEC price goals
West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.16% today to $68.80 a barrel. Futures for May delivery moved over $68 a barrel for the first time in three years. Yesterday the American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.05 million barrel draw down in U.S. inventories. Today the...
Oil prices climb from Monday’s lows but supply worries damp recovery
The financial markets decided that a global trade war wasn’t quite upon us yet this morning. That let stocks and oil bounce back a tad. But it also gave oil traders room to start worrying about oil supply again–after they spent Monday worrying that a...
Inventories drop, oil prices kiss $70 a barrel
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by a surprising large 4.95 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced this morning. This took international benchmark Brent crude up as high as $70 a barrel during trading on Thursday before closing...
Oil market can’t decide what “facts” count
Sometimes a market will move in response to a new fact reaching traders and investors. Sometimes, though, a financial market will change direction because traders and investors choose to emphasize a different set of facts today than yesterday. And that’s where...
Maybe just enough economic data this week to concern a market worried about growth
This week is a kind of mini-referendum on the Federal Reserve, the U.S. economy, and oil prices. Think of it one where some chickens come home to roost. (Hence the photo.) It’s not a big week for economic data but what there is is suggestive. On Wednesday, for...
Saudis reverse 1/3 of production cuts; oil market trembles
Saudi Arabia has told OPEC that it will not play sucker to countries that won’t meet OPEC’s targets for production cuts. Russia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates have not yet delivered the production cuts they agreed to. Saudi Arabia has said that it...
Oil falls below $50; market rethinks Trump reflation trades
West Texas Intermediate was down 2.74% to $48.90 a barrel today as of noon New York time. International benchmark Brent crude was lower by 2.60% to $51.73 a barrel. The drop in West Texas Intermediate brought the price per barrel below the psychologically important...
Oil gets crushed as traders lose patience with stubbornly higher supply
“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” Walter Mosley wrote. Today it was “If it wasn’t for bad news, there’s be no news at all” for the oil sector. Oil prices got crushed today with U.S. benchmark West Texas...
Surprise! U.S oil inventories rise when they were expected to drop
For the week ended December 16, U.S. crude inventories grew by 2.26 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Going into this morning’s report, oil analysts had expected stockpiles to fall by 2.3 million barrels. That surprise...
How big an oil supply cut do we need to reduce stockpiles? One answer from IEA
Oil is up about 17% since OPEC announced that it had agreed to cut output on November 30. That deal was expanded to include important non-OPEC producers on December 10. Is that enough, though, to switch oil supply from surplus to deficit and to cut into global oil...
Oil and oil stocks soar today as OPEC agreement is stronger than Wall Street expected
Yesterday I wrote that the financial markets’ reaction to whatever came out of OPEC’s meeting today would depend on how weak or strong the agreement to cut production was. Well, the actual agreement announced today to cut oil production was far stronger...
Another day, another OPEC rumor–this one sends oil prices down
Another day. Another batch of OPEC rumors. Oil prices were flying high again until about noon New York time when they retreated on headlines that emphasized a lack of agreement from Iran, Iraq, and Indonesia on the proposed deal. For a while this morning and yesterday...
Oil inventories do indeed disappoint today as feared yesterday
Yesterday oil prices dropped on fears that today’s inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration would show a big increase in crude inventories. Today oil prices are down further on the actual report: Crude inventories climbed by 2.28 million...
Oil prices continue lower on worries over Wednesday report on U.S. inventories
Two down days in a row–a big trend given the volatility in oil price trends recently. As of the close on Tuesday, August 30, October futures for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, were down 0.28% to $46.22 a barrel. The selling comes as a Bloomberg...
Oil markets hold their breath waiting for Wednesday’s data on U.S. inventories
Tomorrow, August 10, brings a new weekly report on the state of crude oil inventories in the United States with oil markets looking to calculate a timetable for the restoration of supply/demand balance. Uncertainty over those inventory numbers was enough to bring the...
Today’s news on oil and gasoline stockpiles may just be an artifact of earlier than usual season shift at refiners
Oil traders have decided that this morning’s news on oil and gasoline inventories indicates a drop in supply and is therefore good for higher oil prices. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled up 3.3% today to $40.83 a barrel. I’m not convinced...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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