Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Recap 20-24 February

Crude oil prices continued their rally as both Brent oil and WTI oil prices sharply increased during last week. The low oil stockpiles in the U.S. and Europe along with the potential threat of an eruption between Iran and the West may have contributed to the sharp gains in oil prices. During last week, WTI oil price rose by 6.05% and Brent oil by 4.37%; as a result, the difference between Brent and WTI slightly declined to $17.16/b on Friday. 

Here is a short recap for the changes in crude oil prices (Brent oil and WTI), and a summary of the recent EIA oil stockpiles report for the week of February 20th to February 24th:

Crude Oil Price – Highlights

table crude oil prices - 20-24 February 2012WTI oil price (spot) sharply increased during last week by 6.05%; its weekly average price rose by 4.52% to $106.40 per barrel, compared with last week’s $101.80 per barrel. The average daily percent change of crude oil price (WTI) was 1.19%.

NYMEX Futures Price (March delivery) also sharply increased by 6.33% during the week, and reached $109.77/b on Friday, February 24th

Europe Brent oil price also sharply rose during the week by 4.37%, and the average price increased by 3.57% compared with previous week’s average.

The difference of Brent over WTI spot prices slightly fell during the week; its average premium was $17.60; it finished the week at $17.16.

Crude Oil Charts

In the following charts (for the week ending on February 24th) are the developments in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (Short term delivery) and Europe Brent prices:

The first chart presents the changes in WTI and Brent oil prices during the week: Brent and WTI oil prices had a sharp upward trend during the week.

Crude oil price WTI BRENT oil chart -20-24 February 2012The second chart presents the daily percent changes (i.e. changes around the trend) of crude oil prices (WTI spot oil, WTI future, Brent spot oil):

 

Crude oil price chart WTI Brent oil - percent change 20-24 February 2012Crude Oil Stockpiles –Highlights:

According to the recent EIA report on the U.S Petroleum market, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles rose by 3.2 million barrels and reached 1,754.87 million barrels. The current oil stockpiles are still 29.28 million barrels below oil stockpiles levels recorded during the same week in 2011.

For the complete crude oil stockpiles review see here.

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