Crude oil prices plunged 4 percent on Friday as Saudi Arabia and its rival Iran were making little progress in achieving preliminary deal ahead of OPEC talks aimed at freezing production. The United States was on the track to increase the number of oil rigs in a quarter, move that weighed on sentiment. Another bearish factor was weaker equity prices on Wall Street. Brent crude futures lost $1.76, or 3.7 percent, to settle at $45.89 a barrel. For the week, it added 0.3 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined $1.84, or 4 percent, to close at $44.48. On the week, WTI rose 3 percent.
read more... 26/09/2016
Crude oil prices hiked on Monday, but pared gains, on skepticism over Venezuela’s statements that OPEC and non-OPEC countries were close to reaching a deal to balance global output and clashes in Libya disrupted attempts to increase crude exports. Higher equity prices on Wall Street and a weaker dollar also supported oil prices. Brent crude futures rose by 18 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $45.95 a barrel. It increased over 2 percent earlier, hitting $46.93. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 27 cents, or 0.6 percent, to end at $43.30. The session peak was $44.15.
read more... 20/09/2016
Crude oil prices lost up to 2% on Friday to hit multi-week lows after Iran, the third-biggest OPEC producer, raised crude exports to over 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, intensifying fears about a global glut, while gasoline increased on refinery and pipeline outages. Bearish U.S. equity markets and rising dollar also had an impact on crude futures and other commodities denominated in the greenback. Brent crude futures declined 82 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $45.77 a barrel, reaching a two-week low of $45.48. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 88 cents, or 2%, to close at $43.03 a barrel. WTI hit a five-week bottom of $42.74. For the week, Brent lost 5%, while WTI lost 6%.
read more... 19/09/2016
Crude oil futures plunged at their lowest level in a week on Tuesday, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC revised forecasts indicating that the global crude oversupply could persist much longer than anticipated. Brent crude lost $1.22 or 2.5 percent, to settle at $47.10 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude shed $1.39, or 3 percent, to close at $44.90.
read more... 14/09/2016
On Thursday, oil prices registered a decrease of more than 3 percent, their biggest decline in a week since January (almost 9 percent), as investors have put aside rumors about a possible production freeze from OPEC, and focused on an unexpected big increase of US crude inventories. Brent crude prices have settled down $1.44 at $45.45 per barrel, or 3.38 percent. U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell $1.54 or 3.45 percent at $43.16 a barrel.
read more... 02/09/2016