In trading on Thursday (16th), crude oil futures prices broke out of the early decline. WTI crude oil futures took a breather after rising for 4 consecutive days and closed flat, while Brent crude oil futures rose slightly to their highest point in about 7 weeks.
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said, “As prices return to their summer peaks, there are some profit-taking deals in the market, but the rally seems to continue to be well supported.”
- WTI crude oil futures for delivery in October were flat at 72.61 per barrel Dollar, To hold the highest closing price of the most recent month futures since July 30.
- Brent crude oil futures for delivery in November rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to close at 75.67 per barrel Dollar, Which created the highest closing price of monthly futures since July 30.
Since Hurricane Ida landed on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Louisiana on August 29, production in the area has been slow to recover, which has tightened supply in the near term and provided support for crude oil. The Texas coast welcomed Hurricane Nicholas this week, and crude oil received further support, but the storm caused little damage to drilling platforms or infrastructure.
Nishant Bhushan, an oil market analyst at Rystad Energy, said, “Since Nicholas did not interrupt US production further, it is difficult to see how oil prices will rise further in the near term. The global supply has encountered another accident again.”
The U.S. crude oil inventory report released by EIA yesterday provided support for crude oil, as crude oil inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels last week, exceeding analysts’ expectations and falling for the sixth consecutive week.
According to the S&P Global Platts Energy Information survey, analysts on average expect that US crude oil inventories fell by 3.5 million barrels last week. API announced on Tuesday that US crude oil inventories fell by 5.437 million barrels last week.
In addition, the EIA report also pointed out that gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels and distilled oil inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels last week.
At the same time, European energy prices have soared, providing support for crude oil, especially natural gas. Fuel prices in Europe and the UK soared by double digits on Wednesday. On Thursday, CF Industries closed the operations of two plants in the UK on the grounds of high natural gas prices.
Warren Patterson, Head of Commodity Strategy at ING, said, “The broad recovery in demand and the decline in domestic production mean that European natural gas inventories are far below average.”
He mentioned that as winter in the northern hemisphere approaches, heating fuel demand is greater, but European natural gas reserves are only 71% full, which is lower than the 5-year average of 86% full reserves. This will be at least 10 years after the winter. Minimum reserve level.
Other energy commodity trading
- The price of gasoline futures for October delivery fell nearly 1.2% to close at 2.18 per gallon Dollar。
- Hot oil futures for delivery in October rose 0.3% to close at 2.21 per gallon Dollar。
- The price of natural gas futures for delivery in October fell 2.3% to close at 5.335 per million Btu DollarAlthough it has fallen from the 7-and-a-half-year high on Wednesday, the futures price has risen by 21% so far in September.
EIA announced on Thursday that the supply of natural gas increased by 83 billion cubic feet last week (as of 9/10). According to an IHS Markit survey, analysts on average expect natural gas supply to increase by 79 billion cubic feet last week.