Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Recap 28 May – 1 June

Crude oil prices plunged during last week. The disappointing U.S reports including the revised down U.S GDP, the decline in the growth rate of the manufacturing PMI and lower than expected growth in U.S employment may have contributed to the revised down expectations of demand for oil in the U.S. The uncertainly in Europe regarding the debt crisis and Greece may have also contributed to the decline in oil prices. The economic slowdown in China is also a factor to consider for the decline in oil prices.

The oil stockpiles rose again during the previous week by 5.5 M bl.  

By the end of last week, WTI oil tumbled down by 8.2% and Brent by nearly 8.5%; as a result, the difference between Brent and WTI reached $15.58/b on Friday. 

Here is a short review for the price developments in oil (Brent and WTI) between May 28th and June 1st and a summary of the recent EIA petroleum and oil stockpiles update:

Oil Market – Weekly Summary

table oil prices - 28 May 1 June 2012WTI oil price (spot) tumbled down during last week by 8.2%; its weekly average price also fell by 3.5% to $87.8 per barrel, compared with last week’s $90.98 per barrel. The average daily percent change of oil price (WTI) was -1.68%.

NYMEX Oil Future (short term delivery) also plunged by 8.4% during the week, and reached $83.23/b by Friday, June 1st.

Europe Brent oil also plummeted during the week by 8.47% and the average price also declined by 4.24% compared with previous week’s average.

The difference between Brent and WTI spot also declined during the week as it ranged between $15 and $16; its average premium reached $15.86; it finished the week at $15.58.

Oil Charts

In the following charts (for the week ending on June 1st) 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: both oil rates have had a very sharp downward trend during the week.

oil WTI BRENT chart - 28 May 1 June 2012The second chart shows the daily percent changes (i.e. shifts around the trend) of oil prices (WTI spot oil, WTI future, Brent spot):

 

oil chart WTI Brent - percent change 28 May 1 June 2012Oil Stockpiles –Review:

According to the recent EIA report on the U.S Petroleum and oil market, for the week ending on May 25th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles increased by 5.5 million bl and reached 1,776.5 million barrels.

The complete oil stockpiles review from May 31st.

For further reading: