Futures Markets
IEA oil demand growth estimates send crude prices higher
Oil prices were slightly higher on Tuesday the International Energy Agency increased its predictions of global growth of demand for oil this year. Previously, the IEA had said non-OPEC demand would grow by 3.2 percent, above its previous estimate of demand growth of 3 percent in 2007. Most of that growth, according to [...]
Brent falls $1.29 per barrel in Tuesday trade
Crude oil prices were on the decline again on Tuesday despite the fact that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are rumored to be planning on another production cut in an attempt to push prices higher. Some analysts warned, however, that OPEC should make sure that its current cuts are being enforced before trying [...]
Brent crude falls $1.30 per barrel
Oil prices were down during the day on Tuesday, as weather predictions continued to say that mild conditions will continue over much of the United States.
Meanwhile, investors seemed to spend little time thinking about what could happen to oil supplies next year if the tensions between Iran and the west over Iran’s nuclear program continue. [...]
Crude prices drip slightly on weather predictions
Crude oil prices were a bit lower again on Tuesday, still reacting to predictions of warmer than normal weather over most of the United States for the next couple of weeks. Brent crude January contracts were 7 cents lower to $63.38 per barrel. Meanwhile, January delivery West Texas Intermediate crude on the New [...]
Bad weather sends oil prices up
Crude oil prices were up when foul weather in Alaska forced a halt in loading at Valdez. Brent crude January contracts added $1.06 to $60.04 per barrel, while January delivery West Texas Intermediate crude was 96 cents higher to $59.76 per barrel. Meanwhile, in Belgium, the head of the International Energy Agency said [...]
Oil demand up, prices down in US
Crude oil prices were lower again on Thursday despite new data from the Energy Information Administration which indicated that demand for gasoline, distillate fuel and jet fuel grew by an average annual rate of 2.2 percent in the four weeks ending October 27 over the same period in 2004. Last year’s figures were not [...]
Supply disruption worries send crude prices higher
Crude oil prices were higher on Friday on worries that North Sea and Louisiana supplies could be disrupted. In the North Sea, Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority threatened to close oil fields there because facilities there did not provide adequate lifeboats in case of emergency. A closure there could halt 200,000 barrels per day [...]
Brent, WTI trade just above $61 per barrel
Oil prices dropped again on Wednesday after the weekly US stockpiles report showed that distillates inventories, which include heating oil, were up 4.1 million barrels in the week ending September 15. Total inventories of distillates stood at 148.7 million barrels, their highest level since January 1999, a time when crude oil futures were trading at [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Oil gains on Mideast unrest
Worries about supply disruptions in Europe and comments from the defense minister of Israel that dashed hopes of an imminent ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah forces in Lebanon sent crude oil prices higher on Monday.
By late in the afternoon in London, September contracts for Brent crude had added 95 cents to $74.36 [...]
WTI down 1.8 percent this week
Crude oil prices slid on Friday when new data showed that US domestic product growth lagged behind the level predicted by analysts. So even though Israel and Hizbollah are still fighing with no hope of a diplomatic solution in sight, and Nigerian oil facilities are offline for the foreseeable future after more unrest there, oil [...]
Gasoline up on lower stockpiles, output interruptions
Crude oil prices were up on Wednesday after gasoline inventories in the United States were reported to have dropped more than they were expected to last week, by 3.2 million barrels. The drop was much more than the 0.2 million barrel decline that had been forecast. Crude oil inventories were unchanged, against an expected drop [...]
Oil prices down despite higher demand in China
Crude oil prices were down on Tuesday as pressure grew for a ceasefire in the conflict between Lebanon and Israel. Prices went up early when the US government said that it would be impossible to enforce an immediate cease-fire, but comments from Saudi Arabia that the conflict could spread throughout the region was seen as [...]
Oil hits another recrod high
Crude oil prices are being driven higher as Israel continued its attack on Lebanon amid concerns that other nations in the region could be pulled into the conflict. The new worries come on top of concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, the war in Iraq, continuing conflicts in Nigeria, and the effect the Atlantic hurricane season [...]
US crude oil inventories down; more gasoline in stock
Crude oil prices dropped on Thursday after Wednesday’s gains, which were driven by worries over the situations in Iran and North Korea. Brent crude for August delivery was down 44 cents to $73.54 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London, while by mid-session West Texas Intermediate crude had dropped by 69 cents to [...]
Brent crude adds 40 cents
Oil prices were higher Monday despite the highest inventory levels in twenty years in the developed nations of the world on the expectation that high pump prices for gasoline will not keep US holiday drivers off the road over the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday. While the inventory numbers show that there is no shortage [...]
Crude oil prices up again as inventories decline
With crude oil and gasoline inventories in the United States down ahead of the July 4 holiday, crude oil prices were back above $72 per gallon on Wednesday. Crude oil stockpiles were down by 3.4 million barrels in the week ending June 23, much more of a decline than the 0.8 million barrels retreat than [...]
US gasoline prices up again
The price of crude oil rose again on Tuesday after Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated his nation’s position that it has a right to develop and use nuclear technology and said that there was no point in negotiating with the United States concerning the issue. Also sending prices higher were continuing supply concerns after the [...]