The Middle East never was a peaceful place to begin with; however the current volatile situation in many countries in the Middle East is something that even this region hasn’t seen in a long time. As the protestors in Libya are confronted with Army continues, the uncertainty in the region rises, and crude oil price continue to soar.
Let’s review the main changes in major energy commodities market and precious metals for February 23rd:
Oil and Gas prices:
Crude oil price (WTI spot) after rising on Tuesday by 8.55%, yesterday it increased by 3.13% as it reached 96.5$/b.
With this recent rise, WTI spot reached its highest level since October 1st 2008. Furthermore, up to date, WTI spot price inclines during February by 7.8%, solely due to the last couple of days’ inclinations.
Brent spot price also rose yesterday by 5.66% to reach 111.84$/b, after it increased on Monday by 5.1%. This is the highest level Brent oil has been since August 29th, 2008.
During the month of February, Brent spot price inclined by 11.4%.
As a result the spread between the Brent oil and WTI declined yesterday to 12.32$/b.
Natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) after it inclined on Tuesday, yesterday it declined by 1.54%, to reach 3.83$/mmbtu and thus continued its downward trend during the February. As the cold harsh condition of the winter season will subsides, we will probably see an ongoing fall in natural gas prices.
Furthermore, NY City gate price declined yesterday by 16.4% to reach 4.18$/mmbtu.
Up to date, Henry Hub spot price declined during February by 13.3%, and the Henry Hub future (short term) price decreased by 10.3%.
Precious Metals prices:
Gold price inclined yesterday by 0.92%, as it reached 1,414 $/t oz.
Silver prices, much like gold prices, inclined yesterday by 1.36% and reached 33.304$/t oz.
Up to date, gold completed a 5.5% rise during February, and silver completed a 16.8%.
EURO/ USD inclined moderately yesterday by 0.72%, the USD also depreciated against the AUD, as the AUD/USD inclined by 0.34%. For a more detailed report on major currencies, check out Forex crunch.
A summary of yesterday’s Prices Changes:
The following table presents the main descriptive data from last business day – February 23rd, for precious metals, energy commodities and exchange rates. The table includes: settled prices, daily percent change, and quantitative change in US dollars (except for USD/CAD, in which the change is in Canadian dollars):
For further reading (in this site):
- Qaddafi ups the ante and threatens to explode Libya’s oil reserves
- Natural gas prices naturally fell – Weekly recap 14-18 February
- Oil prices’ erratic behavior – Weekly recap 14-18 February
Yearly Analysis and Outlook:
- Crude oil price in 2010 and outlook for 2011
- Natural gas spot price in 2010 and projection to 2011
- Gold Prices Outlook for 2011 and Analysis of 2010