Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Recap 23-27 April 2012

Crude oil prices rose during last week but only slightly.  WTI oil price continues to dwell in the $102-$104 range and Brent oil at the $117-$121 range. The major news last week came from the U.S including: The FOMC didn’t bring up new stimulus plans; the U.S GDP did expand by 2.2% (in annual terms) during Q1 2012 , which was a bit lower than many had anticipated. The oil stockpiles didn’t change as well. The U.S pending home sales rose in March. This news may have helped trade up crude oil during the week.     

By the end of last week, WTI oil price rose by 1.82% and Brent oil increased by 1.27%; as a result, the difference between Brent and WTI reached $15.09/b on Friday. 

Here is a short recap for the changes in crude oil prices (Brent oil and WTI) between April 23rd and April 27th and a summary of the recent EIA weekly petroleum and oil stockpiles report:

Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Summary

table crude oil prices - 23-27 April 2012WTI oil price (spot) rose during last week by 1.82%; its weekly average price also increased by 0.75% to $103.8 per barrel, compared with last week’s $103.02 per barrel. The average daily percent change of crude oil price (WTI) was 0.36%.

NYMEX Futures Price (May delivery) also increased by 1.01% during the week, and reached $104.93/b by Friday, April 27th.

Europe Brent oil price also traded up during the week by 1.27%, and the average price also increased by 0.78% compared with previous week’s average.

The difference between Brent and WTI spot prices didn’t move much during the week as it remained in the $15-$16 range; its average premium was $15.39; it finished the week at $15.09.

Crude Oil Charts

In the following charts (in regards to the week ending on April 27th) are the daily changes in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (May delivery) and Brent oil price:

The first chart presents the developments of WTI and Brent oil prices during last week: both oil prices have had an upward trend during the week.

Crude oil price WTI BRENT oil chart - 23-27 April 2012The second chart presents the slight movement on a daily basis in terms of 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 23-27 April 2012Crude Oil Stockpiles –Recap:

According to the latest EIA report on the U.S Petroleum and oil market, for the week ending on April 20th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles remained virtually unchanged at 1,763.61 million barrels.

The complete crude oil stockpiles review from April 26th.

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