Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery edged up slightly on Sept. 18 to settle just above $49.90/bbl. Oil prices continued gaining in early Sept. 19 trading after comments were made by an Iraqi official regarding a possible extension of the existing production-cut targets by major producers.
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said Sept. 19 that Iraq and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are considering options that include a proposal for the cartel’s production-cut targets to run throughout 2018 instead of expiring in March.
“All in all, the outlook seems to be bright and prices are rising,” al-Luaibi told an energy industry event in the UAE.
OPEC and some non-OPEC producers last year agreed to cap production at about 1.8 million b/d lower than October 2016 levels in an effort to reduce world oil supplies and increase prices. The deal was extended this year through March 2018.
OPEC and non-OPEC participants are scheduled to meet in Vienna Sept. 22 to review compliance with the targets. Most analysts suggest that any decision to extend the targets would not happen until OPEC’s official annual meeting in November.
Energy prices
The October light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 2¢ to settle at $49.91/bbl on Sept. 18. The November contract dropped 9¢ to settle at $50.35/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for October rose 12¢ to $3.14/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price climbed by 11¢ to $3.10/MMbtu.
Heating oil for October fell nearly 2¢ to a rounded $1.78/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for October was up less than 1¢ to $1.67/gal on Sept. 18.
The Brent crude contract for November on London’s ICE fell 14¢ to $55.48/bbl. The December contract declined 17¢ to $55.25/bbl. The gas oil contract for October was $525/tonne, down $9.75.
OPEC’s basket of crudes for Sept. 18 was $53.78/bbl, up 14¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
