Futures Markets
Crude down with Iran fears
After gains early in the day on Thursday, crude oil prices fell again. The initial price hikes came as Iran seemed set to ignore a United Nations deadline for abandoning its uranium enrichment program, but most traders came to the conclusion that oil will not likely be used as leverage in any resulting conflict.
Brent [...]
WTI falls below $69 per barrel
Crude oil prices fell again on Wednesday as weekly inventory numbers showed unexpected increases in stockpiles of both crude oil and gasoline. Crude oil inventories were up by 2.4 million barrels last week as imports reached an average of 11.2 million barrels per day. It had been expected that inventories would be down by 1.5 [...]
Crude prices drop below $70 per barrel during session
Crude oil prices dropped below $70 per barrel for the first time in more than two months on Tuesday as weather concerns eased. Hurricane Ernesto was downgraded to tropical storm status and it turned away from major oil producing areas, Meanwhile, in the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane John was not expected to affect the production, refining, [...]
WTI drops $2.16 per barrel by midday
Crude oil prices were down by a significant amount of Monday after tropical storm Ernesto was downgraded from hurricane status and its projected path took it away from major oil producing regions of the Gulf of Mexico. While Shell, BP, and ConocoPhillips all said that they were in process of evacuating non-essential workers from oil [...]
Crude oil, natural gas prices rise
Oil prices were higher on Friday as a tropical storm in the Caribbean threatened to strengthen into a hurricane. Forecasters predicted that the storm could enter the Gulf of Mexico and then hit the Gulf Coast of the United States next week. With the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, traders were wary of a [...]
Crude oil prices up on more bad news from Prudhoe Bay
Crude oil prices were higher on Thursday, but not enough to recover from significant declines on Wednesday. Part of the price increases had to do with more bad news from BP, which said that output from its Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, oil field will drop further due to a problem with a natural gas compressor. In [...]
Brent, WTI prices drop considerably
Crude oil prices fell significantly on Wednesday after reports showed that gasoline inventories were up 0.4 million barrels last week, when a decline of nearly 2 million barrels had been expected. Crude oil inventories were 0.6 million barrels lower, but that was much less than the 1.2 million barrel decline that had been predicted due [...]
Crude oil prices drop despite Iran worries
Crude oil prices were slightly lower on Tuesday ahead of an official response from Iran on demands from the West that it end its nuclear enrichment program. Monday the highest religious official in Iran said that his nation would not abandon its program, causing new concerns of conflict over the issue even though the official [...]
WTI adds 48 cents per barrel
The price of crude oil was higher on Monday after Iran said once again that it will not stop its uranium enrichment program, raising new fears of conflict with the West. The United Nations has told Iran to suspend its nuclear program by August 31 if it does not want to have sanctions imposed, but [...]
Crude oil up Friday, down substantially on week
Crude oil prices were up slightly on Friday as Brent crude for September delivery added 35 cents to $71.93 per barrel in London and West Texas Intermediate crude September contracts were 29 cents higher to $70.35 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The increases came after Iran once again said that it will [...]
Crude oil, gasoline inventories fall in US
Crude oil prices fell again on Wednesday despite new data showing that inventories of both crude oil and gasoline fell in the United States last week. Crude oil stockpiles were down by 1.8 million barrels, about the amount analysts had expected, while gasoline inventories were 2.3 million barrels lower. The decline in gasoline stockpiles was [...]
Crude oil prices decline, gasoline edges up
Crude oil prices were lower again on Tuesday as the ceasefire between Isreal and Hizbollah seemed to be holding. Brent crude for September delivery was 19 cents lower to $74.11 per barrel, while September contracts for West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 8 cents to $73.45 per gallon.
Gasoline futures were [...]
Crude oil prices decline substantially
The ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah that went into effect Monday morning local time sent crude oil prices substantially lower on Monday, even though analysts said that attention would likely return to the troubles in Nigeria and the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program. Also helping the decline was an announcement by BP that its earlier [...]
Oil, gasoline futures decline
The price of crude oil fell on Thursday on the news that Tropical Storm Chris was weakening rapidly and would not endanger oil facilities in and around the Gulf of Mexico. The oil industry is still in the process of recovering from last year’s disastrous hurricane season, which made today’s news especially welcome. Also helping [...]
Brent crude up $4 in 3 sessions
News from a number of different directions combined to send crude oil prices much higher on Wednesday. Brent crude September contracts on the International Petroleum Exchange in London were $1.45 higher by late afternoon to $77.35 per barrel, near its all-time high and up $4 since the beginning of the week.
The continuing conflict in the [...]
Oil up on continued fighting
Expectations of escalation in Lebanon and sabotage to a pipeline in northern Iraq sent crude oil prices up again on Tuesday. Brent crude for September delivery was up $1.37 in late afternoon trade in London to $76.52 per barrel, bringing its total gain since Friday to over $3 per barrel. By late morning on the [...]