Oil Prices – Weekly Recap February 18-22

Crude oil price declined again during last week. The U.S stockpiles slightly fell according to the latest EIA report. The difference between Brent and WTI has contracted to a range between $21 and $22 during the previous week. Brent declined by 2.85% during the week; WTI oil fell by 3.78%. As a result, the gap between Brent and WTI reached $20.97/b on Friday.

Here is a short analysis for the rate shifts in oil prices (Brent and WTI) between February 18th and February 22nd and a summary of the latest EIA review on petroleum and oil stockpiles:

Oil Market – Weekly Summary

table oil prices - February 18-22 2013NYMEX Oil Future (WTI) declined during last week by 2.85%; its weekly average rate decreased by 2.43%; it reached average $94.59 per barrel, compared with last week’s $96.94 per barrel. The average daily percent change of oil price (WTI) was -0.57%.

NYMEX Oil Future (short term delivery) reached $93.13/b by Friday, February 15th.

Europe Brent oil also declined during the week by 3.78%, and the average price fell by 2.25% compared with last week’s average.

The difference between Brent and WTI was at the range between $21 and $22 during the week; its average premium reached $21.52; it finished the week at $20.97.

Oil Charts

In the following charts (for the week ending on February 15th) are the daily shifts in NYMEX WTI future (short term delivery) and Brent oil:

The first chart shows the developments of WTI and Brent oil during last week: WTI oil and Brent oil declined during the week.

oil WTI BRENT chart - February18-22 2013In the second chart are the daily percent changes (i.e. changes around the trend) of oil prices (WTI and Brent):

 

oil chart WTI Brent - percent change February 18-22 2013Oil Stockpiles –Review:

For the week ending on February 15th, U.S. Petroleum and crude oil stockpiles declined again by 1.2 million barrels and reached 1,790.6 million barrels. The current oil stockpiles are still higher than the quota from year: the current crude oil stockpiles are 35.8 million barrels above oil stockpiles for the same week in 2012.

 

U.S. Ending Stocks of crude oil on the other hand rose again by 4.1 million barrels and reached 1,072.3 million barrels. The U.S. Ending Stocks of Total Gasoline fell by 1.24% compared with last week’s stocks; it reached 230.3 million barrels.

During recent years the lagged linear correlation between WTI oil price and current oil stockpiles reached -0.20. This mid-weak correlation suggests, assuming all things being equal, the rates of oil may rally next week.

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