2021-09-08 10:25:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $72 YET
REUTERS - Sept 8 - Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday following overnight losses from a stronger dollar and demand concerns, with a slow production restart in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico providing some support.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $68.46 a barrel at 0429 GMT, after sliding 1.4% on Tuesday following the Labor Day holiday.
Brent crude futures fell 2 cents to $71.67 a barrel after falling 0.7% on Tuesday.
“The market is ... weighing up the impact of ongoing delays to the resumption of operations in the Gulf of Mexico,” ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
Producers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are still struggling to restart operations nine days after Hurricane Ida swept through the region with powerful winds and drenching rain.
About 79% of U.S. Gulf production remained offline on Tuesday, with 79 production platforms still unoccupied. About 17.5 million barrels of oil has been lost to the market so far.
The Gulf’s offshore wells make up about 17% of U.S. output.
“Refinery operations appear to be making a quicker recovery,” ING analysts said in a note.
Only about 1 million barrels per day of capacity was temporarily closed, down from a peak of more than 2 million bpd, ING said, citing the latest situation report from the Department of Energy.
“However, those refiners that have restarted are unlikely to be operating at full capacity at the moment,” the note added.
Traders will be closely watching inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group due on Wednesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday for a clearer picture of the storm’s impact on crude production and refinery output.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect, on average, that crude stocks fell by 3.8 million barrels in the week to Sept. 3, and see gasoline stocks down by 3.6 million barrels and distillates down by 3 million barrels.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday in a widespread commodity selloff as the U.S. dollar jumped on worries that rising COVID-19 cases in the United States and Asia will potentially lead to slower growth.
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Earlier:
2021, September, 7, 13:45:00
OIL PRICE: BELOW $73
Brent rose 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $72.57 a barrel, WTI was at $69.16 a barrel.
2021, September, 6, 12:25:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $72
Brent fell 98 cents, or 1.4%, to $71.63 a barrel, WTI was at $68.34 a barrel, down 95 cents, or 1.4%.
2021, September, 6, 12:20:00
OPEC+ OIL ADJUSTMENT 0.4 MBD
Reconfirm the production adjustment plan and the monthly production adjustment mechanism approved at the 19th ONOMM and the decision to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.4 mb/d for the month of October 2021.
2021, September, 1, 14:20:00
OIL PRICE: BELOW $72 ANEW
Brent gained 36 cents, or 0.5%, to touch $71.99 a barrel, WTI for October was at $68.81 a barrel, up 31 cents, or 0.5%.
2021, August, 30, 14:00:00
OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $73
Brent was down 21 cents or 0.3% at $72.49, WTI fell 50 cents or 0.7% to $68.24.
2021, August, 27, 12:10:00
OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $72 ANEW
Brent rose 98 cents, or 1.4%, to $72.05 a barrel, WTI climbed 93 cents, or 1.4%, to $68.35 a barrel.
2021, August, 27, 12:05:00
OPEC+ RUSSIA UNCERTAINTY
OPEC, Russia and nine other countries agreed in July to increase crude production by 400,000 b/d starting August through the end of 2022, a quantity that many analysts said would be insufficient to meet demand in the short-term, given seasonal consumption patterns and the world's recovery from the pandemic.
