Light, sweet crude oil prices for March delivery dropped by more than $1 to settle under $62/bbl on Feb. 7 on the New York market while Brent crude oil for April delivery also dropped by more than $1 to settle under $66/bbl.
In late January, Brent had climbed to more than $70/bbl for the first time since 2014. But prices have since dropped, largely on reports of increased US oil production and rising US oil inventories.
The US Energy Information Administration reported US oil production climbed to 10.251 million b/d for the week ended Feb. 2 (OGJ Online, Feb. 7, 2018).
EIA’s Petroleum Status Report also said crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 1.9 million bbl to 420.3 million bbl, which puts oil in storage in the middle of the average range for this time of year.
EIA’s weekly oil and products report also said total motor gasoline inventories increased 3.4 million bbl and are in the middle of the average range.
Separately, the EIA has forecast US production will average nearly 10.6 million b/d this year and 11.2 million b/d in 2019 (OGJ Online, Feb. 7, 2018).
Energy prices
The March light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.60 on Feb. 7 to settle at $61.79/bbl. The April contract was down $1.56 to $61.55/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for March settled at a rounded $2.70/MMbtu, down nearly 6¢. The Henry Hub cash gas price fell 2¢ to $2.73/MMbtu.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for March declined by a rounded 5¢ to a rounded $1.93/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for March fell nearly 4¢ to a rounded $1.77/gal.
Brent on London’s ICE for April fell $1.36 to $65.51/bbl. The May contract was down $1.33 to $65.15/bbl. The gas oil contract for February declined $16.25 to $579/tonne.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of crudes was $64.30/bbl on Feb. 7, down 53¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
