#Futures Movers: Oil futures log a 7th straight drop, with U.S. prices down nearly 9% for the week
Table of Contents
“#Futures Movers: Oil futures log a 7th straight drop, with U.S. prices down nearly 9% for the week”
WTI, Brent oil settle at lowest prices since May
Oil futures were lower for a seventh straight day on Friday as worry about the impact on energy demand from the spread of the coronavirus delta variant took a toll.
“Concerns about the delta variant loom large on the near term demand outlook for all commodities, including oil,” said Peter McNally, global sector lead for industrials, materials and energy at Third Bridge in New York.
DXY,
traded around a nine-month high on Friday.
The oil market has also had to “contend with additional supplies at a time when questions about the pace of demand growth are increasing,” said McNally. The OPEC+ — the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies — agreed in July to gradually increase production on a monthly basis starting in August.
This year has been a “cooler year for Chinese oil imports,” recent additional COVID restrictions put additional questions about the pace of demand growth for the rest of the year, and the “seasonal slowdown after the summer travel season in the developed world is just ahead,” McNally said.
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery
CL.1,
CLU21,
fell 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $63.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the front-month contract on track for a weekly fall of 7.6%. October WTI
CL00,
CLV21,
the most actively traded contract, dropped 42 cents, or 0.7%, to $63.08 a barrel.
October Brent crude
BRN00,
BRNV21,
the global benchmark, was down 39 cents, or 0.6%, at $66.06 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, on pace for a 6.4% weekly fall.
Crude fell sharply on Thursday, getting caught up in a broad market selloff that saw metals and other commodities tumble along with global equities. U.S. stocks posted a mixed finish, but saw economically sensitive sectors left behind.
Oil futures weren’t helped earlier this week by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories, with investors instead focused on the global demand outlook, and a drop in U.S. gasoline demand just weeks ahead of the end of summer driving season, which ends on Labor Day weekend in early September.
The U.S. benchmark is now testing chart support at $63 a barrel, with bears targeting the 200-day moving average near $60 a barrel, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, in a note.
“The actual mood points at deeper pullback in oil prices, and price recoveries could be interesting top-selling opportunities for those targeting a return to the $60 [a barrel] mark,” the analyst wrote.
Meanwhile, U.S. shale oil production has been “creeping higher,” said Third Bridge’s McNally, adding that the U.S. drilling rig count is on the rise.
Baker Hughes
BKR,
will provide this week’s update on the number of active oil-drilling rigs later Friday. The count climbed by 10 last week.
Back on Nymex, September gasoline
RBU21,
fell 0.8% to trade at nearly $2.07 a gallon and September heating oil
HOU21,
shed 1.4% to $1.94 a gallon.
Read: Gasoline prices may have reached their peak for the year
September natural gas
NGU21,
traded at $3.93 per million British thermal units, up 2.6%.
By
Myra P. Saefong
and
William Watts
If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Google News too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.
For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com
If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our News category.
