MARKET WATCH: Front-month NYMEX crude hovers at $47/bbl

Crude oil prices declined modestly on the New York and London markets Aug. 29 on what traders and analysts called thin trading volumes.

An Aug. 29 UK bank holiday was believed responsible for reduced trading volumes for both US light, sweet crude and Brent crude oil benchmarks. Analysts say oil prices likely will remain in a holding pattern pending the US Labor Day holiday weekend.

Olivier Jakob, an analyst with Petromatrix GMBH in Zug, Switzerland, said, “Technical momentum is stalling, and there are no obvious signs out there that suggest prices will change that much in the next week.”

Short covering, a market tactic, drove an oil price rally earlier in August rather than market fundamentals, he said (OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2016).

The NYMEX crude oil contract for October delivery declined 66¢ to close at $46.98/bbl on Aug. 29. The November contract was down 68¢ to $47.65/bbl.

The natural gas contract for September dropped nearly 2¢ to a rounded $2.85/MMbtu. On the spot market, the Henry Hub gas price gained 8¢ to $2.95/MMbtu.

Heating oil for September declined 1¢ to a rounded $1.49/gal. The price for reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenates blending for September dropped 4.5¢ to $1.47/gal.

The Brent crude contract for October delivery on London’s ICE dropped 66¢ to settle at $49.28/bbl. The September gas oil contract settled at $430.75/tonne on Aug. 29, down $7.

The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of 12 benchmark crudes was $45.44/bbl on Aug. 29, down 31¢.

Contact Paula Dittrick at paulad@ogjonline.com.