Oil prices briefly climbed above $55/bbl on the New York market Nov. 1 before trading lower to settle fairly flat with the previous day at $54.30/bbl for the December contract. The Nov. 1 trading high for the December contract was $55.22/bbl.
The US Energy Information Administration said US oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 2.4 million bbl for the week ended Oct. 27 to 454.9 million bbl (OGJ Online, Nov. 1, 2017).
The Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed US oil production at 9.5 million b/d for the week ended Oct. 27, up 46,000 b/d from the previous week. Production across the Lower 48 was up 43,000 b/d to 9 million b/d while Alaska production was up 3,000 b/d to 507,000 b/d.
Brent prices broke above $60/bbl on Oct. 28 and has held above that benchmark since then. It’s the first time since July 2015 that the benchmark had passed the $60/bbl threshold.
Analysts credited recent higher oil prices on growing optimism that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers, including Russia, will extend production-cut targets beyond Mar. 31, 2018.
On Nov. 1, the January contract for Brent on the London market reached a trading session high of $61.07/bbl before falling to settle just under $60.50/bbl.
Energy prices
The December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange decreased 8¢ to $54.30/bbl on Nov. 1. The January 2018 contract also fell 8¢ to $54.51/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for December fell less than a penny to remain at a rounded $2.89/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price for Nov. 1 was unavailable.
Heating oil for December fell nearly 2¢ to $1.86/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for December gained less than 1¢ to a rounded $1.74/gal.
The Brent crude contract for January 2018 on London’s ICE fell 45¢ to $60.49/bbl. The February 2018 contract dropped 43¢ to $60.23/bbl. The gas oil contract for November was down 50¢ to $550.50/tonne.
OPEC’s Nov. 1 basket of crudes price was up 70¢ to $59.23/bbl.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
