Futures Markets
Crude prices mixed on Thursday
Crude oil prices were mixed on Thursday.
November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Petroleum Exchange was up 44 cents to $66.79 per barrel, while Brent crude for November delivery fell 9 cents to $63.84 per barrel.
Analysts at Barclays Capital said they expect crude oil production in the [...]
Petrobras and PDVSA agree new South American refinery
It was announced on Thursday that the state-owned oil companies of Brazil and Venezuela will share the cost and the use of a planned refinery to be built in Brazil’s northeastern Pernambuco state.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) and PDVSA will each use half of the 200,000 barrel per day capacity of the refinery, which [...]
Gazprom gains Sibneft in purchase
Russia’s Gazprom, the biggest gas firm in the world, signed papers Wednesday to seal a deal in which it will take control of oil company Sibneft for a purchase price of $13.1 billion.
The deal brings Gazprom 72.7 percent of Sibneft and with in control of the company’s output of 660,000 barrels of oil [...]
Inventories drop as France faces Total shutdown
Crude oil prices were up on the day on a drop in inventories in the week ending September 23. Even though gasoline inventories were up on the week, gasoline prices were up on worries about gasoline supply as refinery inputs in the US fell by 4.6 percent to 14.6 million barrels per day. [...]
Drilling rigs hit by Rita
The latest reports from the Gulf of Mexico indicate that Hurricane Rita caused extensive damage to drilling rigs there, perhaps the most damage caused to oil production by any hurricane on record. The damage is so widespread that companies reportedly will be forced to delay drilling not only in the US but as far [...]
Crude prices down on improved refinery capacity
Crude oil prices were down on Tuesday, and the price of gasoline rose as refinery capacity, or the lack of it, continued to cause concerns. Heating oil futures were down slightly on the day.
The amount of US refining capacity shut down by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita remains at around 25 percent, according [...]
Crude futures down as Rita downgraded
Crude oil futures were down on Friday as Hurricane Rita was downgraded in strength and was now expected to miss a direct hit on Houston, the center of oil refining in Texas, and even though nearly 30 percent of US refining capacity is currently shut down from a combination of damage already caused by Hurricane [...]
Analysts worried about threat to refinery production by storm
Some analysts are concerned that gasoline prices could spike higher in the wake of Hurricane Rita than they did after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi a few weeks ago.
If the Rita continues on the path currently projected, it could hit the Texas coast between Corpus Christi and Port [...]
Crude prices up on Hurricane Rita approach
The progress of Hurricane Rita, upgraded twice during the day to a Category 4 and then a Category 5 storm, into the Gulf of Mexico and on toward an expected landfall on the Texas coast sent crude oil and oil product prices up again on Wednesday.
West Texas Intermediate crude November contracts gained 60 [...]
Crude futures down despite storm worries as Saudi Arabia abandons quotas
Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday despite continuing worries that another storm could soon hit production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening yet another supply disruption.
Brent crude for November delivery had gained nearly $4 on Monday, but dropped Tuesday by $1.41 to $64.20 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London. [...]
Crude prices up again on new hurricane fears
Crude oil prices were up substantially again on Monday as another hurricane threatens to enter the Gulf of Mexico and hit oil drilling platforms, causing concerns about further disruptions in the oil supply.
Brent crude November contracts on the International Petroleum Exchange gained $3.80 to $65.39 per barrel, after going as high as $65.61 [...]
OPEC expected to increase quotas
OPEC is expected to announce that it will up its output next week, to ensure that global demand is met.
This increase in output quotas is expected to occur even though both OPEC and the International Energy Agency has cut their estimates of how much demand for oil and oil products will grow this [...]
OPEC expects slower demand
The Organization of Oil Exporting Countries has predicted that rising prices at the pump will soon start to slow the growth of demand for gasoline. It predicted that demand in 2005 would increase by 1.7 percent to 83.5 million barrels per day. That was lower than its earlier forecast of a demand increase [...]
EIA inventories down, spurring oil prices again
Crude oil prices rose significantly on Wednesday after the release of the weekly US inventory figures by the US Energy Information Administration. The EIA figures showed that US crude oil inventories were down by 6.6 million barrels in the week ending September 9. Stockpiles were only expected to be 1.4 million barrels lower [...]
Crude settles slightly lower
Crude oil prices seesawed up and down all day on Tuesday before settling slightly lower by the end of the trading day.
West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as much as 21 cents to $63.55 per barrel at early afternoon before settling back to a loss [...]
Supply drop helps push oil prices down
Crude oil prices were down on Monday as global demand slowdowns seem to be offsetting supply breakdowns due to Hurricane Katrina. The cuts in demand are attributed to continuing high prices for oil and oil products, and are not occurring only in the US, but throughout the world.
The International Energy Agency has [...]
Crude sees only small increases
Crude oil prices rose on Friday for the second straight day, but the increases were small compared to those last week and Brent crude fell by 4 percent from its level at the beginning of the week, while West Texas Intermediate was down 4.4 percent on the week.
WTI October contracts on the New [...]
EU ministers urge action on oil prices
European Union finance ministers, meeting in Manchester, England, have urged oil companies to put more money into exploration for new sources of oil and into more refining capacity in order to bring down soaring oil prices that they say are adversely affecting individual households and businesses, as well as impacting economic growth.
They cited [...]
Crude prices falls again as inventories swell
Crude oil prices fell again on Thursday, bringing the decline since record highs were set last week to over 9 percent. Helping that decline was the release of weekly inventory figures by the US Energy Information Administration.
Crude oil inventories were down by 6.4 million barrels in the week ending September 2, about [...]
IEA extends releases from emergency oil reserves
The International Energy Association on Wednesday said that it is prepared to extend its releases of oil and gasoline reserves beyond the 30-day period it originally announced in order to help the United States while a portion of its oil production capacity is down due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
The IEA will [...]