Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Recap 30 January – 3 February

Crude oil prices didn’t move in the same direction during last week as Brent oil price rose, while the price of WTI oil declined. The ongoing concerns revolving the boycott of Iranian oil by the West may have been among the factors in pulling these two energy prices apart. During last week, WTI oil price fell by 1.73% while Brent oil rose by 3.22%; as a result, the difference between Brent and WTI sharply rose to $16.44/b on Friday. 

Here is a short recap for the changes of crude oil prices (Brent oil and WTI), and a summary of the recent EIA oil stockpiles report for the week of January 30th to February 3rd:

Crude Oil Price – Highlights

table crude oil prices - 30 January - 3 February 2012WTI oil price (spot) slightly fell during last week by 1.73%; its weekly average price decreased by 1.51% to $97.81 per barrel, compared with last week’s $99.31 per barrel. The average daily percent change of crude oil price (WTI) was 0.34%.

NYMEX Futures Price (March delivery) also slightly declined by 1.73% during the week, and reached $97.84/b on Friday, February 3rd

Europe Brent oil price on the other hand rose during the week by 3.22%, and the average price increased by 1.33% compared with previous week’s average.

The difference of Brent over WTI spot prices sharply rose during the week; its average premium was $13.83; it finished the week at $16.44.

Crude Oil Charts

In the following charts (for the week ending on February 3rd) are the changes in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (Short term delivery) and Europe Brent prices:

The first chart presents the changes of WTI and Brent oil prices during the week: Brent oil prices rose during most of the week while WTI was traded down.

Crude oil price WTI BRENT oil chart -30 January - 3 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 30 January - 3 February 2012Crude Oil Stockpiles –Highlights:

According to the last EIA report on the U.S Petroleum market, for the week ending on January 27th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles rose last week by 8.4 million barrels and reached 1,751.7 million barrels. The current oil stockpiles are still 49.675 million barrels below oil stockpiles levels recorded during the same week in 2011.

 

 

 

For the complete crude oil stockpiles review see here.

 

For further reading: