Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Recap July 2-6

Crude oil prices continued to zigzag from gains to losses. The recent ECB rate cut by 25pp to 0.75% its lowest rate may have contributed to the decline in oil prices via the Euro/USD exchange rate. The disappointing U.S non-farm payroll report that showed a growth of only 80 thousand in June may have also dragged down not only the oil market but also other commodities such as natural gas and gold

The oil stockpiles declined during the previous week by 4 M bl.  

By the end of last week, WTI oil edged down by 0.6% and Brent rose by 1.24%; as a result, the difference between Brent and WTI reached $13.758/b on Friday. 

Here is a short review for the price changes in oil (Brent and WTI) between July 2nd and July 6th and a summary of the recent EIA petroleum and oil stockpiles weekly recap:

Oil Market – Weekly Summary

table oil prices -  2-6 July 2012WTI oil price (spot) declined during last week by 0.6%; its weekly average price increased by 7.35% to $86.15 per barrel, compared with last week’s $80.25 per barrel. The average daily percent change of oil price (WTI) was -0.09%.

NYMEX Oil Future (short term delivery) also decreased by 0.6% during the week, and reached $84.45/b by Friday, July 6th.

Europe Brent oil on the other hand rose during the week by 1.24% and the average price increased by 6.54% compared with previous week’s average.

The gap between Brent and WTI spot widen during the week as it ranged between $12 and $13; its average premium reached $12.8.; it finished the week at $13.75.

Oil Charts

In the following charts (for the week ending on July 6th) are the daily changes in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (short term delivery) and Brent oil:

The first chart presents the developments of WTI and Brent oil during last week: WTI and Brent oil rose during the first part of the week but then tumbled down during the second part.

oil WTI BRENT chart - 2-6 July 2012In the second chart are the daily percent shifts (i.e. shifts around the trend) of oil prices (WTI spot oil, WTI future, Brent spot):

 

oil chart WTI Brent - percent change  2-6 July 2012Oil Stockpiles –Review:

According to the recent EIA report on the U.S Petroleum and oil market, for the week ending on June 29th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles declined by 4 million bl and reached 1,794.02 million barrels.

The complete oil stockpiles review from June 29th.

For further reading: