MARKET WATCH: NYMEX crude oil settles back below $48/bbl before Harvey

Aug. 25, 2017
Light, sweet crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell nearly $1 as market participants awaited news of the path of Hurricane Harvey, expected to make landfall in Texas. Oil prices rose in early Aug. 25 trading.

Light, sweet crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell nearly $1 as market participants awaited news of the path of Hurricane Harvey, expected to make landfall in Texas. Oil prices rose in early Aug. 25 trading.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said all options, including possible extension of its production-cut targets, will be considered when the cartel convenes for a regularly scheduled meeting in November in Vienna.

OPEC and some other major producers, including Russia, have targets to cut 1.8 million b/d of oil through the first quarter 2018 in an effort to support oil prices. But prices have fallen overall since Jan. 1. Angola said it favors extending the cuts.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service expected Hurricane Harvey to make landfall around Port Aransas, Tex., late Aug. 25. It was a Category 2 storm with winds of up to 100 mph early Aug. 25 and was strengthening.

Forecasts said Harvey could be a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph, bringing a storm surge and flooding. A major hurricane is one that’s a Category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.

The last Category 3 storm to make a US landfall was Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall in Florida during October 2005.

Energy prices

The September light, sweet crude contract on NYMEX fell 98¢ on Aug. 25 to settle at $47.43/bbl while the October contract declined 92¢ to settle at $47.70/bbl.

The NYMEX natural gas price for September rose 2¢ to a rounded $2.95/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price was $2.96/MMbtu, up 4¢.

Heating oil for September fell less than a penny to remain at a rounded $1.62/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for September was up 4.5¢ to a rounded $1.66/gal.

The Brent crude contract for October on London’s ICE fell 53¢ to $52.04/bbl. The November contract dropped 58¢ to $51.66/bbl. The September gas oil contract was $482.50/tonne on Aug. 25, up $3.50.

OPEC’s basket of crudes on Aug. 24 was $49.76/bbl, up 27¢.

Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].