Brent crude oil prices gained more than 80¢ to settle above $59/bbl on the London market Oct. 26 but fell in Oct. 27 trading.
The US benchmark gained to remain above $52/bbl on the New York market on Oct. 26. Light, sweet contracts fell in early Oct. 27 trading before the weekly Baker Hughes rig count, scheduled for release later in the day.
Brent traded just below $60/bbl on Oct. 26-27, high for this year but down from more than $114/bbl in June 2014 before a prolonged oil price slump started.
“It can’t really go above $60/bbl,” UBS Wealth Management commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo said of Brent.
“If it goes too high, it’s an indication to US shale producers to produce more oil,” Staunovo said, adding that could undermine efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and some other producers to rebalance world oil supply-demand levels.
Energy prices
The December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased 46¢ to $52.64/bbl on Oct. 26. The January 2018 contract gained 43¢ to $52.86/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for November dropped nearly 3¢ to a rounded $2.89/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price decreased 4¢ to $2.89/MMbtu.
Heating oil for November increased 2¢ to $1.84/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for November rose nearly 2¢ to a rounded $1.75/gal.
The Brent crude contract for December on London’s ICE gained 86¢ to $59.30/bbl. The January contract was up 81¢ to $59.04/bbl. The gas oil contract for November gained $2.75 to $536.25/tonne.
OPEC’s basket of crudes for Oct. 26 was $56.45/bbl, up 12¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
