“NY oil futures fell sharply on Tuesday then recovered by Friday’s close to end the week up slightly at $93.71. Brent futures, however, continued to slip all week closing at $107.66 as the wrangling over the Cyprus bailout continued. Brent’s premium to WTI closed out the week at $13.95, the lowest level in eight months…”
“NY oil futures have risen steadily for the last two weeks closing Friday at $93.45, some $3 a barrel higher than at the beginning of March, but $4 a barrel lower than the highs touched in mid-February. Although domestic crude inventories are at record levels, these large inventories are attributed to ongoing refinery maintenance and are expected to be worked off later in the year. Traders were more impressed by the 1.5 million barrel reduction in crude stocks at Cushing, Okla. which fell to the lowest level since December. Goldman Sachs is forecasting that the current $16 spread between WTI and Brent crude will fall to $7.50 in the second quarter …”
“After falling some $8 a barrel during February, oil prices recovered a bit last week with NY futures up about $2 a barrel to close at $91.95 and London up less than a dollar to close at $110.82. Fundamentals remained weak with US crude stocks up another 3.8 million barrels, but traders were optimistic that the US economy will improve. The $85 billion federal sequester, which seems likely to cause considerable economic damage, was thought to have contributed to higher prices early in the week, but seems to have been forgotten by Friday with the markets more interested in a minor bump in the jobs numbers. Oil prices failed to keep up with surging equity prices last week. However, part of this was due to a stronger dollar which normally suppresses oil prices…”
“Crude prices in NY and London continued to fall last week. In both markets oil is down about $8 a barrel since mid-February with NY futures closing a $90.68 on Friday and Brent futures closing at $110.40. The fall was precipitated by a litany of concerns over the course of the global economy – manufacturing slowing in China; unemployment rising in Europe; the Italian political situation; personal income dropping in the US; the beginning of the $85 billion sequester; the dollar strengthening against the euro; US oil production climbing to 7.12 million b/d; and crude inventories up another million barrels…”
