Commodity Corner: Oil Ends Week Lower

- Commodity Corner: Oil Ends Week Lower

Friday, August 19, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Saaniya Bangee

Light, sweet crude posted a slight loss Friday, pressured by yesterday's bearish stock sell-off, as well as a series of negative economic data.

Oil futures ended the week 12 cents lower, settling at $82.26 a barrel Friday and down 3.7 percent for the week. Oil prices traded as low as $79.17 after an earlier intraday peak of $83.55, which was caused by an early rise in the stock market.

Crude gained some support Friday from a weaker dollar. The Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of major foreign currencies, traded at 74.002 from 74.216. The greenback reached a new post-World War II low against the Japanese yen.

Meanwhile, the September Brent contract price settled $1.63 higher at $108.62 a barrel. The intraday range for Brent was $106.43 to $109.30 a barrel.

Natural gas for September delivery gained nearly 5 cents, or 1.2 percent, to settle at $3.94 per thousand cubic feet. Natural gas fluctuated between $3.90 and $3.97 for the last trading session of the week.

Front-month gasoline advanced 5.80 cents to finish at $2.84 a gallon Friday. RBOB rose for a second straight week.

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Novatek CFO: To Be Granted 4 Licenses Next Week

- Novatek CFO: To Be Granted 4 Licenses Next Week

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Alexis Flynn

Novatek will next week be granted four new licenses on the Yamal and Gdansk gas condensate fields in the Arctic, Chief Financial Officer Mark Gyetvay said Tuesday.

Novatek will get two licenses on each block, which are estimated to hold 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent in potential and proven reserves, said Gyetvay, who was addressing a business audience here.

Separately, Novatek will sign a deal with French major Total SA (TOT) July 1 to build the Sabetta onshore liquefied natural gas plant.

Total will take a 25% stake in the terminal project. In March, Total bought a 12% stake in the Yamal LNG project for $4 billion. At the time, Total Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said it plans to raise its holding in Yamal to 19.4% within three years.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Commodity Corner: Oil Down 6.3% for the Week

- Commodity Corner: Oil Down 6.3% for the Week

Friday, June 17, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Matthew V. Veazey

Crude oil for July delivery lost $1.94 to settle at $93.01 a barrel Friday. Since June 10, oil futures have fallen 6.3 percent.

Pessimism about the U.S. economic outlook and its implications for oil demand contributed to Friday's selloff. A source of this negative investor sentiment was the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which on Friday observed that global economic activity is slowing down "temporarily." In addition, the IMF lowered its 2011 economic growth forecast for the U.S. by three percentage points to 2.5 percent.

Providing a cushion to falling oil futures, however, was a stronger euro. Priced in dollars, crude oil becomes more attractive to investors holding other currencies when the greenback weakens. The euro rose 1.25 percent against the U.S. dollar Friday as the prospects brightened for a resolution to the Greek debt crisis. The leaders of European Union heavyweights France and Germany presented a more unified front Friday in working toward a plan to help Greece restructure its crushing national debt.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel lately have had differences of opinion on the role that private banks should play in the bailout, with Merkel arguing that private institutions should be pressured to assume some of the risk. After meeting with Sarkozy Friday, Merkel relented somewhat from her earlier position by advocating a more voluntary role by private banks.

Crude oil traded within a range from $91.84 to $95.40 Friday.

July natural gas continued to be buffeted by weather forecasts showing milder temperatures in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. The front-month contract lost 8.5 cents to end the day at $4.325 per thousand cubic feet.

Natural gas fluctuated from $4.32 to $4.45. For the week, it is down 9.1 percent.

July gasoline ended the day flat, again settling at $2.95—the intraday high. The contract price bottomed out at $2.87, and it is down 2.3 percent for the week.

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Commodity Corner: Oil Down 14.7% for the Week

Commodity Corner: Oil Down 14.7% for the Week

Friday, May 06, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Matthew V. Veazey

June crude oil returned to triple-digit territory Friday but only temporarily.

Oil ultimately lost $2.62 to settle at $97.18 a barrel, but it peaked at $102.38 after the U.S. Department of Labor reported encouraging nonfarm payroll figures. The agency reported that nonfarm payroll employment added 244,000 jobs last month, beating expectations. In addition, it announced that the private sector added 268,000 jobs during the same period.

The positive development was short-lived, however. Dragging oil back downward were a higher U.S. unemployment rate and a stronger dollar. In the case of unemployment, the Labor Department announced the country's unemployment rate rose from 8.8 to 9.0 percent in April.

Meanwhile, the euro weakened against the dollar on a German media outlet's claim that the Greek government is weighing leaving the euro zone. Greece's Finance Ministry denied the claim, calling the report "completely untrue." A stronger dollar makes crude oil less attractive to investors holding other currencies.

Crude oil bottomed out at $94.63 Friday. Since last Friday, oil has fallen 14.7 percent. The indicators of slowing economic growth, coupled with a higher-than-expected build in inventories as reported Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, have also ended natural gas' recent rally. Natural gas for June delivery lost 2.5 cents Friday to settle at $4.235 per thousand cubic feet.

June natural gas fluctuated from $4.22 to $4.34 during Friday's session. For the week, gas is down 11 percent.

Front-month gasoline lost a penny to end the day at $3.09 a gallon. The June contract traded within a range from $2.99 to $3.18. Gasoline is down 10.7 percent for the week.

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Commodity Corner: Crude Climbs on Equities, Mideast

Commodity Corner: Crude Climbs on Equities, Mideast

Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by  Saaniya Bangee

Crude futures advanced 0.8 percent Tuesday on stronger equities and doubts on whether Libyan rebels can resume crude exports within a week.

Tuesday's stock market rally helped oil prices snap out of a 3-day slump, settling at $104.79 a barrel. The 81-cent gain came in anticipation of increased oil demand in the U.S. As the first quarter for 2011 nears close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index both gained 0.7 percent in afternoon trading.

Earlier Tuesday, prices fell to $102.70 a barrel on Libyan rebels' promise to swiftly return crude exports to markets. Traders remain weary as to how quickly and capable Libya will be in resuming exports, along with the remaining uncertainty in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, natural gas futures for April delivery fell by 3.1 percent to settle at $4.24 per thousand cubic feet. The April contract expired at Tuesday's settlement, which traders seized as an opportunity to cash out previous profits.

The Energy Information Administration reported 66.67 billion cubic feet a day, 0.5 percent lower, for U.S. natural gas production in the lower 48 states. The drop was still 6.8 percent higher from year-earlier levels.

Natural gas prices fluctuated between $4.195 and $4.37 Tuesday.
Front-month gasoline ended up Tuesday, settling at a session high of $3.05 a gallon. The session bottomed out at $3.01 a gallon.