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Why $50 Is The Right Price For Oil
Crude oil prices: time spent above and below $50 – chart: EnerCom Analytics The current price of oil may feel low given the fading memories of $100 per barrel oil back in 2014. But in a longer term historical context, we are on the high end of the curve at today’s prices. EnerCom Analytics looked at historical monthly crude oil prices between 1974 and August 2016. The chart shows the histogram of prices for three time periods—1974 to 2016, 1990 to 2016 and 2008 to 2016, with the closing West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) price on September 8, 2016 of $47.32 marked for comparison. The chart shows duration in months for every $5 price increment between $10 per barrel and $115+ per barrel. July 2005 was the first time that U.S. oil prices hit the $50 […]
Oil falls after forecasts show darkening outlook
Oil fell on Tuesday following a series of gloomy predictions on demand growth that suggested the global overhang of unused inventories may persist for much longer than investors anticipate and temper any pick-up in price. The International Energy Agency said a sharp slowdown in global oil demand growth, coupled with ballooning inventories and rising supply, means the crude market will be oversupplied at least through the first six months of 2017. This contrasts with the agency’s last forecast a month ago for supply and demand to be broadly in balance over the rest of this year and for inventories to fall swiftly. The IEA’s latest comments follow a surprisingly bearish outlook from OPEC the day before. Brent crude prices LCOc1 fell 92 cents to $47.40 a barrel by 0910 GMT (05:10 a.m. EDT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 declined by $1.03 to $45.26 a barrel. “It seems the situation has deteriorated strongly in the eyes of OPEC as well as the IEA,” Commerzbank head of commodities strategy Eugen Weinberg said.
Oil market awash with crude, Opec says
Oil markets will remain awash with crude well into 2017, Opec warned on Monday, as the resilience of the US shale industry and new streams of oil production threaten to keep pressure on prices. The producer cartel revised higher for this year and next oil supply forecasts from non-member countries, implying that demand for its crude will remain far lower than current near record output of more than 33m barrels a day. The larger than expected surplus threatens to derail hopes that supply and demand will come into balance by next year, putting a damper on prices that remain less than half mid-2014 levels. Opec is due to meet other large producers later this month to discuss possible output curbs, with talks likely to receive a jolt of urgency following the latest forecasts. Brent, the international crude benchmark, fell 2 per cent to $47 a barrel shortly after the publication of the cartel’s monthly oil report. Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia and Russia, the largest exporter outside the group, agreed last week to work together to stabilise the market but there are still big doubts that a deal to reduce or freeze production is attainable.
Oil Prices Rise Amid Weaker Dollar, Cushing Storage Report
Oil prices rose Monday amid a weaker dollar and a report of a sharp drop in stockpiles at the key storage hub of Cushing, Okla. U.S. crude for October delivery rose 41 cents, or 0.89%, to $46.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global crude benchmark, rose 31 cents, or 0.65%, to $48.32 a barrel for November delivery on ICE Futures Europe. The U.S. dollar weakened against other major currencies following a Federal Reserve official’s remarks that the case for tighter monetary policy has become less compelling. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, was down 0.3% at 86.24. Market participants were watching to see whether Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard, who has advocated keeping rates low, would indicate change of heart ahead of next week’s policy setting meeting. “We started out pretty weak. I think it was […]
China Exclusive: China’s high speed rail track exceeds 20,000 km
A new high-speed railway (HSR) line between Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan Province, and Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu Province started its operation on Saturday, making the total length of high-speed track in the country over 20,000 km. Trains running on the 360-kilometer-long track travels at a speed of 300km per hour at the early stage of operation. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) ZHENGZHOU, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) — China’s high-speed railways now exceed 20,000 km in length with the opening of a line linking Zhengzhou in central China’s Henan Province with Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu Province Saturday. The 360-km line has nine stations and trains run at a speed of up to 300 km per hour in the initial period. The line connects the west with two major north-south […]
