Crude oil prices on the New York market settled down by more than a $1/bbl on Dec. 29, reaching the lowest value since May 1, 2009, and analysts expected price volatility would continue pending the Dec. 31 scheduled release of the US weekly government crude oil and product inventory.
The US Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its statistics for the week ended Dec. 26, which some analysts expect to show a decline. A drop in stored oil volumes likely would support upward price movement.
Tim Evans, Citi Futures Perspective analyst, wrote in a research note that he expects EIA will report a decline in crude supplies because he anticipates that US crude imports were low during Christmas week.
The February crude oil contract dropped $1.12 on Dec. 29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing at $53.71/bbl. The March contract declined by $1.10 to $54.03/bbl. NYMEX crude prices have lost 50% since June.
The natural gas contract for January settled up 18¢ to a rounded $3.19/MMbtu. The cash gas price at Henry Hub, La., was $3.01/MMbtu on Dec. 29¢, up 25¢ from Dec. 26.
Heating oil for January delivery dropped nearly 6¢ to a rounded $1.85/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for January was down nearly 5.6¢ to a rounded $1.45/gal.
Gasoline as of the Dec. 29 settlement was the worst-performing commodity year-to-date of 22 commodities in the Bloomberg Commodity Index.
The February ICE contract for Brent crude oil fell $1.57 to $57.88/bbl. The March contract also declined $1.56 to $58.66/bbl. Brent prices settled at their lowest in overnight floor trade since May 15, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 30.
The ICE gas oil contract for January dropped $3.75 to $535.25/tonne.
The average price for OPEC’s basket of 12 benchmark crudes on Dec. 29 was $54.44/bbl, down $1.59 from the previous day.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
*Paula Dittrick is editor of OGJ’s Unconventional Oil & Gas Report.
