Oil prices fell on the New York market Dec. 18 but rose modestly in London. Analysts attributed the light, sweet crude price drop to news that a planned oil workers strike in Nigeria was called off.
US light, sweet crude for January delivery had reached a trading session high of $57.69/bbl but fell to settle under $57.20/bbl.
Meanwhile, analysts said Brent crude was supported by a news report that Russia’s Rosneft was considering production-cut targets beyond 2018.
Reuters reported Pavel Fedorov, Rosneft’s first vice-president, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries-led agreement to curb crude output “could be extended” beyond December 2018.
On Nov. 30 OPEC and 10 producers outside the cartel, including Russia, extended a previous agreement outlining production-cut targets of 1.8 million b/d of crude production through yearend 2018.
Energy prices
The January 2018 light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 14¢ on Dec. 18 to $57.16/bbl. The February contract decreased 11¢ to $57.22/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for January 2018 gained 13¢ to a rounded $2.74/MMbtu. Meanwhile, the Henry Hub cash gas price was up 9¢ at $2.71/MMbtu.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for January 2018 jumped 2¢ to $1.92/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for January 2018 rose nearly 2¢ to a rounded $1.67/gal.
The Brent crude contract for February 2018 on London’s ICE climbed 18¢ to $63.41/bbl. The March 2018 contract gained 26¢ to $62.91/bbl.
The gas oil contract for January was $569/tonne, up $5.
OPEC’s basket of crudes was $61.64/bbl on Dec. 18, up 16¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
