Futures for crude oil climbed today as tensions in the Middle East grew. Yesterday, the United States reported that the US navy downed Iranian drone, but Tehran denied that. Today, news hit the market that Iran seized a British oil tanker. That is likely a response to the seizure of Iranian tanker by the UK earlier this month. Adding to the positive factors for crude was the oil rig count released by Baker Hughes today. It showed a drop of oil rigs by 5 to 779 this week. The number of gas rigs increased by 2 to 174. Futures for WTI crude oil gained 1.41% to $56.08 per barrel as of 20:01 GMT on NYMEX today. September contract for Brent crude jumped 1.97% to $63.15 per barrel on ICE. Over the week … [Read More...]

Futures for Brent crude oil logged significant gains today. The West Texas Intermediate grade posted losses but has managed to rebound by now. There were several factors that helped the commodity. Some analysts speculated that better-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls buoyed the commodity. While the report boosted the dollar, hurting commodities priced in the US currency, it sent a positive signal about economic growth, and that was helpful to crude. Oil output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries dropped to the lowest level since 2014 as US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela helped to offset rising production in Saudi Arabia. Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rig count decrease by 5 to 788 this week. Yet US oil production increased by almost 1.2 million barrels per day, year-… [Read More...]

Crude oil rallied more than 2% today. The commodity was benefiting from the same reasons as some other raw materials — the weakness of the US dollar that followed abysmal US employment data and speculations about interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. But crude also had its own bullish factors. One of them were signals from Saudi Arabia that the OPEC+ production cut deal will be extended till the end of the year, with Russia remaining in the agreement. Another one was the oil rig count from Baker Hughes that showed a decline of the number of US oil rigs by 11 to 789 this week. Contract for delivery of WTI crude oil in July jumped as much as 2.66% to trade at $53.99 per barrel as of 22:14 … [Read More...]

Crude oil rose a bit today but was still heading to weekly losses. Crude managed to carve out gains with help of US nonfarm payrolls. While the solid employment figure hurt gold, it also helped commodities linked to growth. Baker Hughes reported that US drilling firms increased the number of oil rigs by 2 last week. But that was not nearly enough to offset the previous week’s slump by 20 rigs, which put the total number of rigs to the lowest level in more than a year. The real culprit responsible for this week’s losses of the commodity was the US oil inventories data. A report from the Energy Information Administration showed an increase of the stockpiles by as much as 9.9 million barrels last week, which was … [Read More...]

Crude oil prices fell on Friday and ended the week with about 3% loss. Market specialists had different views on why crude declined. Some blamed poor US macroeconomic data, which signals about potential decrease in demand. Others pointed at recent sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves as the main negative factor for crude. There was also positive news for the commodity. Baker Hughes reported that US firms decreased the number of oil rigs by 10 last week. Now, the total count stands at 843 — the lowest since May 2018. Contract for delivery of WTI crude oil in April slumped as much as 2.57% to $55.75 per barrel as of 22:33 GMT on NYMEX today. Brent crude for delivery in May tumbled 2.02% to $64.97 per barrel on ICE. At the … [Read More...]

Prices for crude oil rallied strongly today. Market analysts named several factors probably responsible for the rally. Most experts pointed at the US sanctions against Venezuela as the major reason for the gains of crude. Another one was the sharp drop of output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Some analysts speculated that the strong employment growth and the expansion of the manufacturing sector in the United States also contributed to the rally of oil prices. The oil rigs count from Baker Hughes likely contributed to the rising prices as well. The agency reported that US drillers reduced the number of oil rigs by 15 this week. The decline offset the previous week’s increase of 10. Futures for delivery of WTI crude oil in March rallied 2.88% … [Read More...]

Prices for crude oil rallied strongly on Friday due to a range of positive fundamental factors. The commodity was also heading to weekly gains. One of such factors was the rumor that the United States are considering lifting additional tariffs on Chinese imports. While US officials denied such plans, markets remained in the risk-on mode. Together with China’s plans to stimulate growth, chances for an end to the Sino-US trade war promise stable demand from the world’s second biggest economy and a major consumer of oil. Adding to the bullish momentum of crude was yesterday’s report that showed a decrease of OPEC oil production by 751,000 barrels per day to 31.6 million bpd in December. Saudi Arabia cut its output by 468,000 bpd to just … [Read More...]

Prices for crude oil were rather volatile today. Initially, crude was following global stocks in decline, trading near the lowest levels since the third quarter of 2017 and heading to end the week with about 10% loss. The commodity and equities often move hand-in-hand because both are risk-sensitive assets. And today the market sentiment was negative towards risk. North American crude reversed losses later, but only to fall back down afterwards, while world’s benchmark Brent grade did not stop its downward movement at all. Market analysts speculated that prices for oil were collapsing because traders did not think that the OPEC+ production cuts will be enough to compensate for increasing supply from the United States and to erase global glut. To counter that, Saudi … [Read More...]

Crude oil extended its previous losses today, heading to end the session with more than 2% decline. Prices continued to sink even as US drillers decreased the number of oil rigs for the second week in a row. Baker Hughes reported that the oil rig count fell by 4 this week. At 873, the number of rigs was the lowest since October but higher than a year ago. Energy firms were reducing the number of active rigs in a response to the collapse of oil prices last month. Despite the news, the negative market sentiment continued to weigh on the commodity. Lackluster economic data in the eurozone and China led to concerns about global growth. And performance of crude usually directly linked to growth as growing economy means higher … [Read More...]

Crude oil demonstrated massive gains yesterday and ;continues to ;rise today. On ;Thursday, the ;Brent grade climbed as ;much as ;4 percent intraday. The ;day before, prices … [Read More...]