Light, sweet crude oil prices gained modestly to close slightly above $52.30/bbl on the New York market Feb. 8 despite a build in weekly US oil inventories. Analysts noted oil prices still drew support from a drop in US gasoline inventories.
Commercial crude inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, jumped 13.8 million bbl for the week ended Feb. 3 from the previous week’s total, estimated the US Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
At 508.6 million bbl, US crude inventories are above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
EIA said US crude production rose 63,000 b/d to 8.98 million b/d for the week ended Feb. 3. Rising US production threatens efforts by other producers to reduce world oil supply and support prices.
Qatar’s Energy Minister Mohammed Al Sada told a Feb. 8 news briefing in Doha that he believes, “It’s too early to make a judgement” regarding how long the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain production cuts.
A 6-month agreement on production levels by OPEC and some other major oil producers took effect in January. OPEC’s January production levels will be released Feb. 13. Separately, a committee in charge of monitoring production compliance is scheduled to release a report on Feb. 17.
“We kept it open to reconsider the rollover, and rollover is an option if needed,” Al Sada told Bloomberg TV. OPEC expects to decide whether to extend the cuts at a May meeting in Vienna.
Energy prices
The NYMEX crude oil contract for March delivery gained 17¢ on Feb. 8 to $52.34/bbl. The April contract was up 13¢ to $52.91/bbl.
US natural gas futures for March delivery edged down less than a penny to remain at a rounded $3.12/MMbtu. The spot gas price at the Henry Hub in Cushing, Okla., gained 1¢ to $3.05/MMbtu.
Heating oil for March rose 1¢ to a rounded $1.63/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for March gained 6.5¢ to a rounded $1.55/gal.
The Brent crude contract for April on London’s ICE was up 7¢ to $55.12/bbl. The Brent May contract was up 14¢ to $55.47/bbl. Gas oil for February closed at $490.50/tonne, up $4.75.
The average price for OPEC’s basket of benchmark crudes on Feb. 8 was $52.13/bbl, down 65¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].