Light, sweet crude oil prices settled Nov. 16 at $56.46/bbl, unchanged from the previous day and having stabilized to end a week of steep price swings, including one day in which the crude price fell more than $4/bbl on both the New York and London markets.
For the week, US crude futures ended 6.2% lower while Brent crude oil prices on the London market edged up less than 1%. On Nov. 16, Brent crude for January closed at $66.76/bbl, up 14¢ from the previous day.
Recent statistics reinforced the notion that US drilling and production are likely to continue growing.
The US Energy Information Administration estimated crude inventories rose 10.3 million bbl for the week ended Nov. 9. Gasoline and distillate supplies declined (OGJ Online, Nov. 15, 2016). Weekly EIA data also showed US oil production at 11.7 million b/d.
Baker Hughes reported its weekly US drilling rig count was up a single unit to 1,082 rigs working for the week ended Nov. 16. The count was up 167 units from the 915 rigs working during the same time a year ago (OGJ Online, Nov. 16, 2017).
Energy prices
The December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed Nov. 16 at $56.46/bbl, unchanged from the previous day. The January contract also settled unchanged at $56.68/bbl.
Natural gas rose 23¢ to close at a rounded $4.27/MMbtu on Nov. 16.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for December decreased less than 1¢ to remain at $2.07/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for December rose 2¢ to a rounded $1.57/gal.
Brent crude oil for January increased 14¢ to $66.76/bbl on London’s International Commodity Exchange. The February contract also was up 14¢ to $67.03/bbl. The gas oil contract for December was $633.25/tonne, down $4.50.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of crudes for Nov. 16 averaged $66/bbl, up 72¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
