Crude oil prices started off the week falling on account of the markets’ response to the recent U.S non-farm payroll report. Major commodities bounced back during Wednesday and Thursday only the finished the week falling again probably due to disappointing growth in China’s economy during the first quarter of 2012.
During last week, WTI oil price edged down by 0.46% and Brent oil also declined by 1.27%; as a result, the difference between Brent and WTI reached $18.75/b on Friday.
Here is a short recap for the developments in crude oil prices (Brent oil and WTI) between April 9th and April 13th and a summary of the last EIA weekly crude oil stockpiles update:
Crude Oil Price – Highlights
WTI oil price (spot) edged down during last week by 0.46%; its weekly average price slipped by 0.9% to $102.53 per barrel, compared with last week’s $103.47 per barrel. The average daily percent change of crude oil price (WTI) was -0.09%.
NYMEX Futures Price (May delivery) also slipped by 0.46% during the week, and reached $102.83/b on Friday, April 13th.
Europe Brent oil price also declined during the week by 1.27%, and the average price also decreased by 2.13% compared with previous week’s average.
The difference between Brent and WTI spot prices shifted with an unclear trend during the week; its average premium was $18.69; it finished the week at $18.75.
Crude Oil Charts
In the following charts (referring to the week ending on April 13th) are the developments in WTI spot oil, NYMEX Future (April delivery) and Europe Brent prices:
The first chart presents the changes of WTI and Brent oil prices during last week: Brent and WTI oil prices have started off the week falling and then slightly rose during most of the rest of the week.
The 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 Stockpiles –Highlights:
According to the recent EIA report on the U.S Petroleum market, for the week ending on April 6th, U.S. Petroleum stockpiles declined by 3.9 million barrels and reached 1,765.854 million barrels.
The complete crude oil stockpiles review of April 11th.
For further reading: