The Middle East turmoil sets its toll on the energy markets, mainly crude oil, as the prices of oil soared yesterday and on Monday as the riots and uprise in Libya continues with no apparent end in the horizon.
Let’s review the main changes in major energy commodities market and precious metals for February 22nd:
Oil and Gas prices:
Crude oil price (WTI spot) after rising last week by 3%, started off the week with a huge increase of 8.55% as it reached 93.57$/b. (There was no trade in the US on Monday due to President day).
With this recent rise, WTI spot reached its highest level since October 3rd 2008. Furthermore, up to date, WTI spot price inclines during February by 4.5%, solely due to yesterday’s increase.
Brent spot price on the other hand, declined yesterday by 1.44% to reach 105.89$/b, however it increased in the previous day by 5.1%.
During the month of February, Brent spot price inclined by 5.5%.
As a result the spread between the Brent oil and WTI declined yesterday to 12.32$/b.
Natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) bounced back yesterday, despite the downward trend it had all month: it inclined by 1.04%, to reach 3.89$/mmbtu; 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 inclined yesterday by 16.28% to reach 5$/mmbtu.
Up to date, Henry Hub spot price declined during February by 12%, and the Henry Hub future (short term) price decreased by 11%.
Precious Metals prices:
Gold price inclined yesterday by 0.9%, as it reached 1,401 $/t oz.
Silver prices, much like gold prices, inclined yesterday by 1.77% and reached 32.856$/t oz.
Up to date, gold completed a 4.5% rise during February, and silver completed a 15.2%.
EURO/ USD declined moderately yesterday by 0.2%, the USD also appreciated against the AUD, as the AUD/USD declined by 1.05%. 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 22nd, 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: