Commodity Corner: Oil Declines on bin Laden News

Commodity Corner: Oil Declines on bin Laden News

Monday, May 02, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Matthew V. Veazey

News that Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. covert operation in Pakistan contributed to a temporary dip in oil futures Monday, with oil bottoming out at $110.82 a barrel.

June crude oil would ultimately settle at $113.52, though. Despite reports that bin Laden's remains are now somewhere in the ocean as well as assurances by President Obama that the world is "safer" without the 9/11 mastermind, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations remain a serious threat to the world's oil supply. This latter realization, along with unconfirmed reports by Iranian state media that Israeli military jets were preparing airstrikes against Iran, caused the oil price to regain territory lost earlier in the day.

Crude oil peaked at $114.83 Monday.

Natural gas for June delivery also ended the day higher, settling at $4.69 per thousand cubic feet. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center recently forecast below-normal temperatures for May throughout the northern tier of the Lower 48 states. This outlook has been bullish for natural gas given the boost in heating demand that could occur should it come to fruition.

Front-month natural gas traded within a range from $4.64 to $4.73 Monday. June gasoline slipped to $3.35 a gallon after fluctuating from $3.31 to $3.42.

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Commodity Corner: Oil Clears $110

Commodity Corner: Oil Clears $110

Thursday, April 07, 2011
Rigzone Staff

by  Matthew V. Veazey

The recent surge in oil futures showed no sign of abating Thursday as the commodity ended the day at $110.30 a barrel.

The $1.47 day-on-day gain followed a report by NATO that Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi have attacked the Sarir oil field, resulting in a fire at one or more oil facilities nearby. Earlier Gaddafi had blamed NATO coalition forces with setting the fire, but the mission's commander denied the accusation.

"We have never conducted strike operations in this area because his forces were not threatening civilian population centers from there," said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, Commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector, in a written statement. "The only one responsible for this fire is the Gaddafi regime and we know he wants to disrupt oil getting to Tobruk," where terminal and port facilities are located.

Also providing a boost for crude oil was a report by the U.S. Labor Department showing a decrease in first-time jobless claims for the week ending April 2. According to the agency, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 2.5 percent week-on-week to 382,000. For the same period last year, the number of claimants was 472,000.

The price of May crude fluctuated from $108.23 to $110.26 Thursday.
Moderating temperatures throughout the eastern half of the U.S. contributed to a nine-cent drop in natural gas futures Thursday. Natural gas for May delivery settled at $4.06 per thousand cubic feet after trading within a range from $4.03 to $4.16.
May gasoline held flat at $3.19 a gallon Thursday. It peaked at $3.20 and bottomed out at $3.16.