Month: January 2013

“New York oil futures fluctuated around $96 dollars a barrel last week, at one point nearly touching $97, closing on Friday at $95.87. This was the seventh weekly gain in a row for NY futures and the longest run of weekly price gains since 2009. Brent crude which now is up $4 a barrel in the last two weeks, and up $10 a barrel since early November, closed at $113.28. Numerous factors were seen as shaping the markets last week. There is optimism among traders that the US, Chinese, Japanese, and German economies are doing better. The Euro strengthened a bit. US jobless claims were down. The China’s purchasing managers index was up.”

“In the January issue of its monthly Oil Market Report, the IEA forecasts that the world oil market will become much tighter than expected in the year ahead due to recent reductions in Saudi and Iraqi exports and increases in Chinese demand. The Agency now expects that global demand for oil will increase by about 900,000 barrels in 2013. This forecast coupled with better economic news from China and at least a temporary settlement of the US’s debt cap crisis sent oil prices up about $2 a barrel on Thursday to a new 17-week high…”

“After a quiet start to the week, crude futures climbed to a three-month high on Thursday after Beijing’s export data showed an increased demand for Chinese goods. On Friday, however, Beijing released data showing inflation rising, largely due to the impact of record cold weather on food prices, sending crude prices down again. Analysts feared that China would turn to fighting inflation rather than stimulating the economy, thus reducing the demand for oil. At week’s end NY futures were down to $93.56 a barrel, and London was down to $110.55…”

“Oil trading was dominated last week by machinations in the US Congress and the prospects for the US economy. During the week, however, NY futures sustained the biggest weekly gain in three months on the euphoria surrounding the settlement of the fiscal cliff. NY oil closed Friday at $93.09 while Brent closed at $111.31…”