Light, sweet crude oil prices fell slightly on the New York market Feb. 21 and continued falling in early Feb. 22 trading on mixed expectations about whether US oil supply levels rose or fell last week.
The American Petroleum Institute on Feb. 21 said its own estimate showed crude supplies for the week ended Feb. 16 fell by 900,000 bbl. But analysts surveyed by the Wall Street Journal said they anticipate that the US Energy Information Administration will report on Feb. 22 that crude stocks rose by 1.9 million bbl.
EIA was scheduled to issue its weekly oil and product inventory report Feb. 22, one day later than normal because of the Presidents Day holiday on Feb. 19 in the US.
Energy prices
The April light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 11¢ on Feb. 21 to settle at $61.68/bbl. The May contract fell 4¢ to $61.52/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for March climbed 4¢ to a rounded $2.65/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price also was $2.65/MMbtu on Feb. 21.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for March increased by less than 1¢ to remain at a rounded $1.93/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for March edged up by less than a penny to a rounded $1.76/gal.
Brent crude oil for April settled at $65.42/bbl, up 17¢, on London’s International Commodity Exchange. The May contract was up 10¢ to $65.15/bbl. The gas oil contract for March was $575.75/tonne, up $1.50.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of crudes was $62.50/bbl on Feb. 21, down 31¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
