The light, sweet crude oil price for September fell more than $2/bbl on Aug. 15 while the Brent crude oil contract for October fell by $1.70/bbl, which analysts attributed to concerns about lower world oil demand if emerging market economies continue to slow.
But oil prices appeared to stabilize in early Aug. 16 trading in New York following news of trade discussions expected later this month between the US and China. The talks would be the first in more than 2 months.
Before news of upcoming US-China talks, commodity investors appeared concerned about a possible emerging market crisis.
Turkey’s lira has dropped in value, raising concerns about possible contagion into other emerging market currencies. The Indian rupee’s also fell as did the Argentine peso. China’s yuan dropped nearly 10% against the US dollar since April.
Meanwhile, rising US oil inventories and production also dampened crude prices on the New York futures market on Aug. 15.
The US Energy Information Administration reported the nation’s crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 6.8 million bbl for the week ended Aug. 10 to 414.2 million bbl (OGJ Online, Aug. 15, 2018).
EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report also said US production was 10.9 million b/d for the week ended Aug. 10, up 100,000 b/d from the previous week.
Energy prices
The light, sweet crude contract for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged $2.03 to close at $65.01/bbl on Aug. 15. The October contract decreased $1.87 to settle at $66.46/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for September declined by nearly 2¢ to a rounded $2.94/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price increased 3¢ to $3.01/MMbtu.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for September fell nearly 4¢ to a rounded $2.09/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for September dropped more than 3¢ to a rounded $2/gal.
Brent crude oil for October decreased $1.70 to $70.76/bbl on London’s International Commodity Exchange. The November contract fell $1.68 to settle at $71.10/bbl. The gas oil contract for August was $636.75/tonne on Aug. 15, down $18.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of crudes for Aug. 15 was $69.77/bbl, down $1.56.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
