Highlights of the Market Watch feature on OGJ Online. Dates are when items appeared online. Subscribers can retrieve full articles online via keyword search.
Sept. 21
Energy prices continued to climb Monday amid growing awareness that the loss of Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas production to Hurricane Ivan may be more than was first thought by traders.
The October contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped by 76¢ to $46.35/bbl Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the November contract increased by 60¢ to $46.19/bbl.
On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., was up by 76¢ to $46.36/bbl. Gasoline for October delivery gained 0.42¢ to $1.27/gal on NYMEX.
Heating oil for the same month inched up 0.18¢ to $1.26/gal. The October natural gas contract increased by 14.1¢ to $5.25/Mcf.
Sept. 22
Energy prices continued to escalate Tuesday with more evidence that Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas production shut in by Hurricane Ivan will take longer to bring back on stream than some initially expected.
The October contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped by 75¢ to $47.10/bbl on NYMEX, while the November position advanced 57¢ to $46.76/bbl. Spot market WTI increased by 74¢ to $47.10/bbl. Heating oil for October escalated by 3.7¢ to $1.30/gal on NYMEX, a level not seen since before the war with Iraq, analysts said. Gasoline rose by 1.51¢ to $1.29/gal.
The October natural gas contract soared by 35.9¢ to $5.61/Mcf, as traders were forced to cover open sales contracts.
Sept. 23
Crude futures prices hit near-record levels Wednesday when the Energy Information Administration reported a large drop in US inventories of crude and petroleum products in the wake of Hurricane Ivan.
The new near-month November contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes escalated by $1.59 to $48.35/bbl—the second highest settlement price ever on NYMEX at that time, said analysts. The December contract was up by $1.42 to $47.58/bbl.
Spot market WTI gained $1.46 to $48.56/bbl. Gasoline for October shot up by 5.34¢ to $1.34/gal, while natural gas increased by 2.1¢ to $5.63/Mcf. Concerns of possible shortages pushed heating oil to a record intraday high of $1.35/gal on NYMEX before it closed at $1.34/gal, up 4.15¢ for the day.
Sept. 24
Oil futures prices continued to climb Thursday as traders shrugged off a decision by the US Department of Energy to loan two refiners a relatively small amount of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The November contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes rose 11¢ to $48.46/bbl on NYMEX, while the December contract was up by 15¢ to $47.73/bbl. Spot market WTI lost 19¢ to $48.37/bbl.
October heating oil climbed by 0.85¢ to $1.3529/gal, as gasoline inched up by 0.02¢ to $1.3432/gal.
However, natural gas lost 6.5¢ to $5.56/Mcf, "declining for the first time in nine sessions as traders' comfort level with the growing size of storage began to outweigh concerns about the slow pace of recovery in [gas] output from the Gulf of Mexico," said analysts at Enerfax Daily.
Sept. 27
Benchmark US crude hit a new record high Friday on NYMEX amid continued slow recovery of Gulf of Mexico production and growing concern about armed conflict in Nigeria.
The November contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes climbed 42¢ to a record high closing of $48.88/bbl Friday, just a little short of the Aug. 20 NYMEX intraday high price of $49.40/bbl. The near-month crude futures price gained 12% in the last seven sessions, analysts said. The December contract was up 35¢ to $48.08/bbl.
Spot market WTI gained 44¢ to $48.81/bbl. Heating oil and gasoline for November were up 0.5¢ each to $1.3579/gal and $1.3482/gal, respectively. November natural gas lost 17.2¢ to $5.39/Mcf.
