Crude oil prices continued their upward trend during most of last week as both WTI and Brent oil prices rose on a weekly scale. Further, the gap between Brent and WTI also expanded during most of the week. The recent news of the contraction in the EU GDP by 0.2% during Q2 2012 may have curbed the rise in oil prices. In the U.S the financial reports showed a mixed signal as to the progress of the economy: the Philly Fed index was still negative, while the retail sales edged up during July.
The oil stockpiles decreased again during last week by 4.5 M bl. WTI oil rose by 3.38% during the week; Brent, by 1.94%. As a result, the gap between Brent and WTI reached $19.76/b on Friday.
Here is a short analysis for the price developments in oil (Brent and WTI) between August 13th and August 17th and a summary of the latest EIA report on petroleum and oil stockpiles:
Oil Market – Weekly Summary
WTI oil price (spot) rose during last week by 3.38%; its weekly average price increased by 1.43% to $94.42 per barrel, compared with last week’s $93.09 per barrel. The average daily percent change of oil price (WTI) was 0.67%.
NYMEX Oil Future (short term delivery) also increased by 3.38% during the week, and reached $96.01/b by Friday, August 17th.
Europe Brent oil also increased during the week by 1.94% and the average price by 2.614% compared with previous week’s average.
The difference between Brent and WTI spot expanded again during most of the week until Wednesday when the gap started to shrink; the difference ranged between $19 and $22; its average premium reached $19.2; it finished the week at $20.80 – its highest level since the beginning of April.
Oil Charts
In the following charts (for the week ending on August 17th) are the daily changes in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (short term delivery) and Brent oil:
The first chart shows the developments of WTI and Brent oil during last week: WTI and Brent oil had had an upward trend during most of 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 August 10th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles declined by 4.5 million bl and reached 1,795.6 million barrels.
The complete oil stockpiles review from August 15th.
For further reading: