Data, new rig fire send crude prices higher.
Crude oil prices were up Thursday, driven first by hopeful economic news from the United States and then later by the news of another explosion and fire at an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion and fire damaged a rig belonging to Mariner Energy, Inc (NYSE: ME) off the coast of Louisiana, [...]
Manufacturing data sends crude prices higher
Crude oil prices were higher Wednesday after the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index was up to 56.3 in August, from 55.5 in July and better than the decline to 52.8 which had been expected by analysts, indicating that manufacturing activity in the US expanded last month. A separate report from China’s Federation [...]
Crude prices fall ahead of inventories data
Crude oil prices dropped Tuesday even though consumer confidence was reported higher in the US in August as the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index was at 53.5, up from 51 in July, which is still far below the reading of 90 which is considered to indicate a healthy economy. A home price index also was [...]
Crude prices drop ahead of US data
Prices for crude oil were lower Monday as equities markets in the US and Europe retreated and ahead of new data due this week, including July’s US employment numbers from the Labor Department, and manufacturing and productivity data from the United States. Hurting prices was a report from the Commerce Department, which showed that personal [...]
Crude prices rise, but US retail gasoline prices continue to decline
Crude oil prices were higher again Friday, but the retail price of gasoline in the United States was down for the 17th consecutive day. October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were up 73 cents to $74.09 per barrel at just past 1 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude had added [...]
US jobless claims help crude prices
Crude oil prices were a bit higher Thursday as the US dollar weakened and as new jobless claims in the United States were reported lower last week. The US Labor Department reported that there were 31,000 fewer new filings for unemployment benefits last week, to 473,000 new claims, the first decline in a month. In [...]
Crude prices rise slightly despite stockpile gains
Crude oil price were slightly higher in afternoon trade Wednesday despite unexpected stockpile gains and new data that did not inspire confidence that the economy is improving. October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was up 58 cents to $72.21 per barrel in afternoon on the New York Mercantile Exchange after going as low as [...]
Crude prices drop on decline in US home re-sales
Crude oil prices were lower again Tuesday, finding an 11-week low, with declines coming on a new US home sales data from the National Association of Realtors. The industry group reported that re-sales of homes in the US fell 27.2 percent in July, with single family homes hitting their lowest level in fifteen years, raising [...]
Stronger dollar pushes crude prices down again
Crude oil prices were lower again Monday after the US dollar strengthened and most US equities markets moved very little, and after crude opened higher on hopes that recent mergers rumors and activity meant that economic conditions were improving. October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had dropped 86 cents to $72.96 per barrel in [...]
Crude prices at lowest level in six weeks
Crude oil prices fell again Friday, to its lowest level in six weeks, as the US dollar strengthened, global equities markets saw declines and investors continued to worry about the state of recovery from the recession. September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.09 to $73.34 per barrel in afternoon trade on the [...]
KNOC makes hostile bid for Dana Petroleum
Dana Petroleum, the Aberdeen-based oil explorer, has received a hostile takeover bid from South Korea’s state-owned oil company, KNOC. KNOC is offering to buy the British firm in a deal worth £1.87 billion ($2.9 billion) – the equivalent of £18 per share. Should a deal be successful, it would boost South Korea’s oil reserves and [...]
Jobs, manufacturing data hurt crude prices
Crude oil prices fell again Thursday as more disappointing data raised fears that demand for gasoline and other oil-based products will decline. October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were $1.29 lower to $74.13 per barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude was lately reported down $1.31 to $75.16 [...]
EIA: US crude inventories fell less than expected last week
Crude oil prices were lower in afternoon trade Wednesday, but had come off of session lows by 1:30 p.m. in New York, after the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on US stockpiles of crude oil, gasoline and distillates. The EIA said that crude oil inventories dropped by 800,000 barrels last week, much less of [...]
Shell warns on production in Nigeria
Shell in Nigeria has today warned it may not meet contractual obligations on crude oil after an oil theft sabotaged two pipelines. Nigeria, a member of the OPEC, is the world’s 12th-largest oil producer and the eighth-largest oil exporter. Over the weekend, oil thieves made holes, or cuts, to siphon oil, according to Shell but [...]
Crude oil prices gain on US industrial production data
Crude oil prices were higher Tuesday as equities markets saw gains, the US dollar weakened versus the euro, and some new data raised hopes that gasoline demand will improve. The US Federal Reserve reported that US industrial production was up 1 percent in July, more than the expected 0.6 percent gain, causing investors to speculate [...]
Economic worries send crude prices lower
Crude oil prices were slightly lower in afternoon trade in New York Monday as yet more data made investors worry that economic recovery around the globe is not going as well as had been hoped. September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were 9 cents lower to $75.30 per barrel at 1:15 p.m. on the [...]
Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy sells Indian assets
Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy has agreed to dispose of assets in India, in a deal worth £5 billion. India-focused miner, Vedanta Resources, will pay approximately £6 billion for a stake of between 51%-60% in Cairn India. The deal will provide Vedanta with the ability to expand into oil and gas. Founder of the company, Anil Agarwal, [...]
Crude prices drop on data, US dollar
Crude oil prices were down again Friday as the US dollar strengthened, making oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies and despite better news on US consumer confidence. September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down 42 cents to $75.32 per barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent [...]
BP fined $50.6m fine for Texas explosion in 2005
Beleaguered oil giant BP has agreed to pay a record fine of $50.6 million (£32.5 million) for neglecting to correct safety hazards at its plant in Texas, where 15 men were killed in an explosion in 2005. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said the penalty “rightly reflects BP’s disregard for workplace safety”. [...]
Crude prices down on US jobless data
Crude oil prices fell again Thursday on continuing concerns that a weak economy will erode demand for oil and products made with it. Added to recent bad news on economic growth in several regions of the world, the US Labor Department reported during the day that new unemployment claims filed in the United States rose [...]
Data, new rig fire send crude prices higher.