Light, sweet oil prices for April delivery dropped back under $54/bbl on Feb. 22 but rallied again in early Feb. 23 trading before release of the oil and product inventory report from the US Energy Information Administration. The US Feb. 20 Presidents Day holiday delayed the report a day later than usual.
Ole Hansen, Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy, said, “If there is a stock draw then it should come from lower imports, and I suppose that’s really where people are looking for some positive news from the weekly numbers.”
The American Petroleum Institute on Feb. 22 said its estimate showed US crude oil supplies fell 884,000 bbl for the week ended Feb. 17 while gasoline supplies declined by 893,000 bbl.
Energy prices
The crude oil contract for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 74¢ on Feb. 22 to $53.59/bbl. The May contract was down 68¢ to $53.93/bbl.
US natural gas futures for March delivery gained a rounded 3¢ to $2.59/MMbtu. The spot gas price at the Henry Hub in Cushing, Okla., closed at $2.53/MMbtu, up 1¢.
Heating oil for March dropped 1¢ to a rounded $1.63. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for March gained 2¢ to a rounded $1.51/gal.
The Brent crude contract for April on London’s ICE was down 82¢ to $55.84/bbl. The Brent May contract declined 72¢ to $56.04/bbl. Gas oil for March closed at $489.50/tonne, down $12.25.
The average price for OPEC’s basket of benchmark crudes on Feb. 22 was $53.48/bbl, up 40¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
