US light, sweet crude prices declined for a third consecutive day, settling below $47/bbl to a 3-week low on Aug. 16 after weekly US government data showed increased US oil production.
Analysts said climbing US oil production statistics outweighed the largest weekly crude oil inventory decline so far this year.
The US Energy Information Administration said crude oil supply, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by more than 8.9 million bbl for the week ended Aug. 11 (OGJ Online, Aug. 16, 2017).
Standard Chartered analysts issued a research note Aug. 17 saying, “At the rapid attrition rate of the past 2 months, the US oil surplus would be gone by mid-December.”
But US oil production rose to slightly more than 9.5 million b/d, approaching the 2015 peak of around 9.6 million b/d, EIA said.
The Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed total US oil production rose 79,000 b/d for the week ended Aug. 11 compared with Aug. 4. Of the latest total, production across the Lower 48 was up 25,000 b/d to 9.07 million b/d, while Alaska production was up 54,000 b/d to 432.000 b/d.
Energy prices
The September light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 77¢ on Aug. 16 to settle at $46.78/bbl. The October contract was down 76¢ to close at $46.94/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for September dropped 4.5¢ to a rounded $2.89/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price dropped 4¢ to $2.89/MMbtu.
Heating oil for September declined 2.5¢ to a rounded $1.57/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for September was down 1.6¢ to a rounded $1.56/gal.
The Brent crude contract for October on London’s ICE was down 53¢ to $50.27/bbl. The November contract declined 53¢ to $50.10/bbl.
The September gas oil contract was $470.25/tonne on Aug. 16, down $1.25. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of crudes on Aug. 16 was $48.69/bbl on Aug. 16, up 24¢ from the previous day.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
