Light, sweet crude oil prices rose modestly on the New York market Sept. 27 after the US Energy Information Administration reported a 1.8 million-bbl draw from US crude stockpiles while the nation’s gasoline supplies rose by 1.1 million bbl last week.
Commercial crude inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 1.8 million bbl to 471 million bbl during the week ended Sept. 22 compared with the previous week’s total, EIA said. (OGJ Online, Sept. 27, 2017).
The Weekly Petroleum Status Report shows US oil production rose to 9.547 million b/d last week, up 37,000 b/d compared with the week ended Sept. 15.
Oil production across the Lower 48 was 9.064 million b/d for the week ended Sept. 22, up 16,000 b/d from the previous week. Alaska’s production was 483,000 b/d, up 21,000 b/d.
On international oil markets, Brent crude oil prices fell for a second consecutive day Sept. 27. On Sept. 25, Brent crude oil closed at $59.02/bbl, its highest settlement since July 2015.
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan repeated his earlier threat to shut an oil pipeline that carries about 600,000 b/d of crude from northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. His threat came after the Kurdish autonomous region voted for its independence in a referendum.
Some analysts said this potential supply loss from the pipeline could mean tighter world supply. It would be combined with the existing 1.8 million b/d of production-cut targets by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers.
Energy prices
The November light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 26¢ to settle at $52.14/bbl on Sept. 27. The December contract increased 24¢ to settle at $52.43/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for October rose nearly 6¢ to a rounded $2.97/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price held unchanged at $2.95/MMbtu.
Heating oil for October edged up by less than 1¢ to remain at a rounded $1.85/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for October fell 4.5¢ to a rounded $1.65/gal on Sept. 27.
The Brent crude contract for November on London’s ICE dropped 54¢ to $57.90/bbl. The December contract was down 35¢ to $57.57/bbl. The gas oil contract for October was $546.75/tonne, up 50¢.
OPEC’s basket of crudes for Sept. 27 was $56.07/bbl, down 36¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
