2017-08-28 20:00:00
OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $53 AGAIN
REUTERS , BLOOMBERG , OILPRICE - Oil markets were roiled on Monday after Tropical Storm Harvey wreaked havoc along the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend, crippling Houston and its port, and knocking out numerous refineries as well as some crude production.
U.S. gasoline prices hit two-year highs as massive floods caused by the storm forced refineries in the area to close. In turn, U.S. crude futures fell as the refinery shutdowns could reduce demand for American crude.
Brent futures LCOc1 eased, but losses were capped as pipeline blockades in Libya slashed the OPEC country's production by nearly 400,000 barrels per day.
Harvey is the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, killing at least two people, causing large-scale flooding, and forcing the closure of Houston port as well as several refineries.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Harvey was moving away from the coast but was expected to linger close to the shore through Tuesday, and that floods would spread from Texas eastward to Louisiana.
Texas is home to 5.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, and Louisiana has 3.3 million bpd. Over 2 million bpd of refining capacity was estimated to be offline as a result of the storm.
Spot prices for U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 surged 7 percent to a peak of $1.7799 per gallon, the highest level since late July 2015, before easing to $1.7352 by 0948 GMT.
U.S. traders were seeking oil product cargoes from North Asia, several refining and shipping sources told Reuters, with transatlantic exports of motor fuel out of Europe expected to surge.
"Global refining margins are going to stay very strong," said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix.
"If (U.S.) refineries shut down for more than a week, Asia will need to run at a higher level, because there's no spare capacity in Europe."
About 22 percent, or 379,000 bpd, of Gulf production was idled due to the storm as of Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said. There may also be around 300,000 bpd of onshore U.S. production shut in, trading sources said.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 52 cents at $47.35 a barrel.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 12 cents at $52.29 per barrel.
These opposing price movements pushed the WTI discount versus Brent to as much as $5.06 per barrel, the widest in two years.
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Earlier:
August, 24, 14:30:00
OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $53Brent crude futures, LCOc1 the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $51.92 per barrel at 0652 GMT, down 18 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $48.70 a barrel, down 12 cents, or 0.3 percent. |
August, 24, 14:20:00
OIL MARKET IS RIGHTAs of July 2017, the OPEC and participating non-OPEC producing countries achieved an impressive conformity level of 94 per cent. This is a demonstration of the commitment of participating producing countries to continue their cooperation towards the rebalancing of the market. The JMMC expressed great satisfaction with the results and steady progress made towards full conformity of the production adjustments, and encouraged all participating countries to achieve full conformity, for the benefit of producers and consumers alike. The JMMC also welcomed the participation of the UAE at the recent JTC meeting, where the UAE reiterated its commitment to adhere to its production adjustments for the remaining period of the Declaration of Cooperation. |
August, 17, 15:25:00
OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $51Brent crude LCOc1 was unchanged at $50.27 a barrel by 0845 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 5 cents lower at $46.73. |
August, 17, 15:20:00
U.S. OIL INVENTORIES DOWN 9MBUS commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 8.9 million bbl for the week ended Aug. 11 compared with the previous week, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly oil and products inventory report. |
August, 14, 14:35:00
OIL PRICES: $51 - $52North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $48 per barrel (b) in July, $2/b higher than the June average and almost $4/b higher than in July 2016. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices to average $51/b in 2017 and $52/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to average $2/b less than Brent prices in both 2017 and 2018. |
August, 14, 14:30:00
OIL STOCKS DOWN BY 500 TBDGlobal oil stocks fell by 500,000 b/d and preliminary data for July, particularly in the US where stocks fell by 790,000 b/d, is supportive of rebalancing supplies with demand, according to the most recent Oil Market Report from the International Energy Agency. |
August, 14, 14:25:00
OPEC OIL PRODUCTION UP 173 TBDTotal crude oil production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased 173,000 b/d month-over-month in July to average 32.87 million b/d. |
