OIL GAS PRICES ANALYSIS
OGJ , BLOOMBERG - US and Brent crude oil benchmarks gained moderately on May 11 and continued rising in early May 12 trading, which analysts attributed to a weekly US government report showing the biggest draw to US oil inventories so far this year.
Crude oil prices have rebounded since dropping more than $2/bbl on both the New York and London markets on May 4, reaching 5-month lows.
The Energy Information Administration reported US crude oil supplies, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, dropped by 5.2 million bbl for the week ended May 5.
Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had anticipated a decline of 1.8 million bbl. The American Petroleum Institute estimated a drop of 5.8 million bbl for the week ended May 5.
Energy prices
The light, sweet contract for June crude oil delivery gained 50¢ to close at $47.83/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange May 11. The July contract also climbed 50¢ to settle at $48.20/bbl.
The natural gas price for June was up 8¢ to a rounded $3.37/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price gained 9¢ to $3.20/MMbtu on May 11.
The Brent crude contract for July on London's ICE was up 55¢ to settle at $50.77/bbl. The August contract increased 51¢ to $51.05/bbl. The June gas oil contract was $449/tonne, up $5.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of crudes was $48.37/bbl on May 11, up $1.06.
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