Crude oil prices demonstrated an unclear trend during last week as both WTI and Brent oil shifted from rises to falls throughout the week. The difference between Brent and WTI declined again during last week. The oil stockpiles fell during last week by 9.6 M bl. This fall could have been, in part, due to the shutdown of oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Isaac. WTI oil edged down by 0.05% during the week; Brent fell by 1.13%. As a result, the gap between Brent and WTI reached $17.73/b on Friday.
Here is a short analysis for the price changes in oil (Brent and WTI) between September 3rd and September 7th and a summary of the latest EIA review on petroleum and oil stockpiles:
Oil Market – Weekly Summary
WTI oil price (spot) edged down during last week by 0.05%; its weekly average price increased by 0.15% to $96.68 per barrel, compared with last week’s $95.68 per barrel. The average daily percent change of oil price (WTI) was -0.01%.
NYMEX Oil Future (short term delivery) also slipped by 0.05% during the week, and reached $96.42/b by Friday, September 7th.
Europe Brent oil also declined during the week by 1.13% but the average price rose by 0.23% compared with previous week’s average.
The difference between Brent and WTI spot declined during most of the week; the gap ranged between $17 and $19; its average premium reached $18.28; it finished the week at $17.73.
Oil Charts
In the following charts (for the week ending on September 7th) are the daily changes in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (short term delivery) and Brent oil:
The first chart shows the shifts of WTI and Brent oil during last week: WTI and Brent oil remained nearly unchanged during the week.
In the second chart are the daily percent changes (i.e. shifts around the trend) of oil prices (WTI spot oil, WTI future, Brent spot):
Oil Stockpiles –Review:
According to the recent EIA report on the American Petroleum and oil market, for the week ending on September 7th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles fell by 9.6 million bl and reached 1,787.7 million barrels.
The complete oil stockpiles review from September 6th.
For further reading: