The light, sweet crude oil prices for October and November declined modestly yet each settled above $70/bbl on the New York market Sept. 20 while Brent crude oil prices for November and December also fell but each settled above $78/bbl in London.
Oil prices continued rising in early trading Sept. 21 in anticipation of a meeting between major producers where oil production levels and tightening world crude supply is expected to be discussed.
A monitoring committee meeting is schedule Sept. 23 between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-members, including Russia. Participants likely will talk about how to offset lower Iranian oil exports with oil production from elsewhere.
Iran’s oil shipments have fallen sharply in recent months ahead of full implement by Nov. 4 of US oil sanctions against Iran. US President Donald Trump announced new sanctions in May along with the US exit from an earlier international agreement in which an alliance of countries lifted sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran’s cooperation regarding its nuclear program.
Energy prices
The light, sweet crude contract for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 32¢ to $70.80/bbl on Sept. 20. The November contract dropped 45¢ to settle at $70.32/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for October gained nearly 7¢ to a rounded $2.98/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas fell, declining 6¢ to settle at $3/MMbtu.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for October declined nearly 2¢ to a rounded $2.23/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for October dropped less than 1¢ to $2.01/gal.
Brent crude oil for November declined 70¢ to $78.70/bbl on London’s International Commodity Exchange. The December contract fell by 70¢ to $78.22/bbl. The gas oil contract for October held unchanged at $688/tonne on Sept. 20 compared with Sept. 19.
OPEC’s basket of crudes for Sept. 20 averaged $77.13/bbl, up 7¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
