US light, sweet crude oil prices dropped on the New York market Oct. 11 as did Brent crude oil prices in London after the International Energy Agency said world oil supplies rose in September.
The IEA said world oil supply averaged 97.2 million b/d in September, up 600,000 b/d from August, and 200,000 b/d higher than for the same month last year (OGJ Online, Oct. 11, 2016).
RBC Capital Markets has cut its 2017 forecast for the US oil benchmark to $56.50/bbl from $64/bbl.
Separately, Nathan Piper of RBC Europe Ltd. issued a research note in which he said certain international oil and gas companies could be moving past “peak net debt with balance sheets starting to improve even at current oil prices.”
Management teams have lowered costs for 2 years during the ongoing oil price slump, he said.
“This included steps to reduce head count and as fields came on stream reallocated costs onto projects. We expect these cost savings to be sustainable and in the case of UK producers boosted by ongoing weakness in the pound,” Piper said.
A 20-day strike in Norway has ended with the negotiation of an oil-service agreement. The strike involved the Norwegian Union of Industry and Energy Workers as well as the Norwegian Oil & Gas Association.
Energy prices
The November crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange decreased 56¢ on Oct. 11 to close at $50.79/bbl. The December contract was down 63¢ to $51.24/bbl.
The natural gas contract for November declined nearly 4¢ to a rounded $3.23/MMbtu. On the spot market, the Henry Hub gas price held unchanged at $3.14/MMbtu.
Heating oil for November fell 2¢ to a rounded $1.59/gal. The price for reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenates blending for November declined 1.4¢ to a rounded $1.48/gal.
The December Brent crude contract on London’s ICE fell by 73¢ to settle at $52.41/bbl, and the January contract also fell 73¢ to settle at $53.03/bbl. The November gas oil contract settled at $470.50/tonne.
The average price for OPEC’s basket of benchmark crudes on Oct.11 was $48.81/bbl, up 50¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].