Crude Oil Price

Crude oil prices climbed for the third consecutive session July 21, with the new front-month September contract temporarily topping $100/bbl during intraday trading in the New York market.

The stock market rallied Dec. 2, posting its highest weekly gain in 3 years as central banks moved to resolve liquidity issues in Europe, but petroleum prices increased only moderately.

Energy commodity prices were mixed July 6, with crude slipping lower in the New York market after the People's Republic of China announced another increase in the yuan benchmark interest rate as of July 7 ahead of the official June consumer price index (CPI) data release on July 15.

The front-month crude oil contract rebound Oct. 14, wiping out losses from the previous 2 days to challenge market resistance at $87/bbl in New York, while natural gas rallied 5% on the prospects of colder weather and short covering.

The price of crude oil continued climbing, up 2.1% Oct. 25 in the New York market, but the big news is the return to backwardation in that market and the narrowing premium for North Sea Brent crude over West Texas Intermediate.

The new front-month contract for benchmark US crude oil rebound by 1.5% Mar. 21 in the New York market following a government report of an unexpected draw last week from commercial inventories.

Crude oil prices continued to tumble July 1 in the New York market amid more signs of a slowdown in the economic recovery, but natural gas was up following a smaller-than-expected injection into US underground storage.

The front–month crude oil contract advanced 0.9% on July 9 in the New York market, gaining 5.5% through the week on mixed demand forecasts and an unexpected drop in US inventories.