Crude oil prices continued to rise during lost of last week. The U.S stockpiles changed direction and slightly increased according to the latest EIA report. The gap between Brent and WTI slightly narrowed to a range between $20 and $21 during last week. Brent rose by 0.43% during the week; WTI oil, by 2.23%. As a result, the gap between Brent and WTI reached $20.31/b on Friday.
Here is a short analysis for the price changes in oil prices (Brent and WTI) between December 17th and December 21st and a summary of the latest EIA review on petroleum and oil stockpiles:
Oil Market – Weekly Summary
NYMEX Oil Future (WTI) increased during last week by 2.23%; its weekly average price also rose by 2.95% to $88.69 per barrel, compared with last week’s $86.15 per barrel. The average daily percent change of oil price (WTI) was 0.45%.
NYMEX Oil Future (short term delivery) reached $88.66/b by Friday, December 21st.
Europe Brent oil also rose during the week by 0.43%, and the average price increased by 0.88% compared with previous week’s average.
The gap between Brent and WTI remained at the range between $20 and $21 during the week; its average premium reached $20.52; it finished the week at $20.31.
Oil Charts
In the following charts (for the week ending on December 21st) are the daily shifts in NYMEX WTI 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 had a moderate upward trend during the first part of the week.
In the second chart are the daily percent shifts (i.e. changes around the trend) of oil prices (WTI and Brent):
Oil Stockpiles –Review:
According to the recent EIA report on the American Petroleum and oil market, for the week ending on December 14th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles decreased by 1.9 million barrels and reached 1,791.4 million barrels.
The complete oil stockpiles review from December 19th.
For further reading: