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Oil prices move higher following bullish inventory report, Iranian missile test

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Middle East, Oil, Eastern Europe

Oil prices have been on the rise today, following a government report that showed inventories fell more than expected last week.

Going into today's inventory report, analysts had been expecting to hear that oil inventories shrank by around 2 million barrels last week, but according the the Department of Energy the actual draw was much steeper at 3.7 million barrels.

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Oil hits 6 week high

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:50:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, Forecasts, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Commodities, Oil, Recession

Oil prices hit a 6 week high today, as cold weather gripped most of the country.

Over the weekend the nation was hit with a cold front that reminded oil traders that the high demand winter season is on its way, and could help reduce a lot of the oversupply that the market is currently looking at.

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Oil drops below $67

Michael Fowlkes — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic Data, Oil, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

The past two weeks we have seen oil prices steadily trade higher, but the sellers came out today in reaction to rising concern over consumer confidence and pushed prices lower.

Oil dropped under $67 a barrel today as Wall Street learned that consumer confidence had dropped for the second straight month in July. A major reason for low consumer confidence can be attributed to rapidly rising unemployment in the country.

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OPEC says it will take five years for oil demand to recover to pre-recession levels.

Connie Madon — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:50:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Economic Data, Commodities, Oil, Recession

What is the current supply/demand for oil going forward? OPEC is saying that it will take five years to bring demand back to pre-recession levels.

In 2008 average consumption of OPEC oil reached 31 million barrels per day. We will not reach that mark until 2013. Demand for non OPEC oil is expected to remain flat at about 45 million barrels per day.

So now with less demand, there is less desire to invest in new capacity. OPEC had previously planned to spend $165 billion dollars in new capacity. Now they have scaled back these numbers to $110 to $120 billion into the year 2013.

In Rome last May, the International Energy Agency feared that lower investments in capacity would lead to severe future shortages.

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Oil prices fall on economic concerns

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Middle East, Politics, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil moved up above $70 early in the session, but was unable to hold that momentum through the day. After its strong start to the day, prices dropped $2.19 to $67.83.

A major reason for the drop in prices can be attributed to the World Bank. The World Bank slashed its forecast for this year's global economic growth, and reported that the current recession is deepening.

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Oil inches closer to the $70 mark

Michael Fowlkes — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Forecasts, Consumer Experience, Middle East, Economic Data, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

A couple of months ago, I would have bet that oil would probably peak out this summer in the upper $60's, and possibly move back through the psychological $70 mark, but it is starting to look like I would have been wrong. We have yet to hit the heart of the high demand summer driving months, and oil is already poised to break through $70 a barrel.

When we looked at oil prices yesterday we mentioned that the first place you are going to feel the recent jump in price is going to be at the gas station. And today, you will be seeing another slight jump in price as the national average for a gallon of gasoline moved over a penny higher last night to a current national average of $2.525.

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Oil hits new 6 month high following inventory report

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, Forecasts, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Middle East, Market Matters, Economic Data, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil prices reached a new 6 month high today, following a weekly inventory report that lead investors to believe that demand is rising for the precious crude.

Going into today's report from the Department of Energy, analysts had been expecting to see a drop of around 1.5 million barrels, but the actual drop came in larger than expected, with a reported 2.1 million decline in inventories for the week ended May 15.

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Oil hits high for the year, as S&P goes positive

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Good news, Middle East, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Commodities, Oil, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil prices have been steadily heading higher the past month, and today was no exception, as the precious crude managed to close today's trading at its highest value in 2009.

While we are still no where near the record high prices we were seeing last summer, oil has managed to slowly creep its way up to $54.58 a barrel. This was after a rise on the day of $1.73, and it is a clear sign that analysts believe that global demand is about to move in oil's favor.

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Oil drops under $40 on employment data

Michael Fowlkes — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Bad News, Middle East, Employees, Economic Data, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

While the markets may have been able to move higher today, despite a weak jobs report, oil was not so lucky, with traders pushing oil prices down below $40 a barrel.

By the end of the session, oil had inched back slightly higher, and closed the day at $40.17, after breaking through the psychological $40 barrier and hitting an intraday low of $38.60. Traders pushed oil prices lower on the news of deep job cuts in January.

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Is oil going up or down?

Connie Madon — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:31:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Middle East, Japan, Economic Data, Oil, Financial Crisis

There are two competing forces at work in the oil market. On the one hand, OPEC has already cut production by 4.2 million barrels per day since last September. OPEC's secretary has said the producer group was willing to make further cuts when it meets in March. The price of crude has been holding steady near (above or below) the $40.00 per barrel mark.

Another factor weighing on the market is the threat of some 30,000 U.S. refinery workers who may go on strike. This can bring our refinery capacity to a virtual standstill. In Britain, workers staged an unofficial walkout on Friday in protest over the use of foreign workers.

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Oil drops on bearish inventory figures

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Bad News, China, Middle East, Market Matters, Japan, Economic Data, Oil, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil prices flirted with the psychological $40 barrier today after a report from the U.S. government showed that inventories swelled much more than expected last week.

Going into today's weekly inventory report, analysts had been expecting to see in crude inventories of around 1.9 million barrels. While that would have been a bearish indicator in its own right, the actual figures were a much more bearish reality that U.S. demand is still not picking up as we would like, as actual oil inventories rose by a massive 6.1 million barrels for the week.

It's been a tough day all around for oil, as the market has been hit not only with today's bearish inventory report, but also news earlier in the day that new home construction in December hit an all time low, and that Asian economies have been extremely hard hit with recessions of their own.

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Oil down sharply following bearish inventory report

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Forecasts, Russia, Middle East, Oil, Eastern Europe, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil prices have dropped sharply today as traders focus on increased demand concerns following this week's oil inventory report.

Going into today's inventory report, analysts were expecting to see an increase in oil reserves of around 1.5 million barrels. However, the market was shocked to see that the actual increase last week was well above that figure, as the Energy Information Agency announced that inventories grew by 6.7 million barrels.

The result? Oil prices have dropped over 9% in today's market, falling $4.54, down to $44.04.

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OPEC rumors boost oil prices

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:28:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Rumors, Products and Services, Middle East, Economic Data, Oil, Financial Crisis

Oil prices are getting a big boost today, as investors are betting on hearing news of huge production cuts coming out of OPEC this week.

With oil well off its highs from over the summer, many had already been expecting to see OPEC step in and cut production, but earlier this month OPEC made it clear that it wants to shock the market into sending prices higher.

Prices have moved up over $50 a barrel today, hitting a high of $50.05, but have cooled off slightly and are currently sitting at $49.25, up $2.97 as we await to hear exactly how deep the production cuts could run.

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Oil gets a bounce from anticipated rise in Chinese demand

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, China, Russia, Middle East, Market Matters, Oil, Financial Crisis

Oil prices got a boost today from the news of a large interest rate cut in China, which analysts believe should have the result of lifting oil demand for the country.

China is doing all it can to keep its booming economic growth alive. The country announced its largest interest rate cut in 11 years, as the People's Bank of China slashed rates by 1.08 percentage points.

Oil prices, which have been in a virtual free fall since their record high levels over the summer, moved up as high as $52.76 earlier in the session, and are now trading up $1.40 a barrel to $51.75.

The move by China should help the country rebound from the current slowdown it is seeing in economic growth. The massive expansion of the economies in China and India are a major reason why oil prices moved so much higher in the past couple years, and if today's announced cuts have the intended effect of increasing economic activity, then the country should indeed see an increase in its thirst for oil.

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The International Energy Agency warns of lack of investment in oil production

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:05:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Economic Data, Oil

In a new report today, the International Energy Agency warned that an insufficient amount of investment into oil supply is going to result in a serious supply shortage that could make the recent record high oil prices look weak in comparison.

Oil prices spiked to a record high $147 a barrel earlier this summer, but have since been in a pretty steady downward spiral, and were down again today, as the credit crunch and recession fears have created fear among oil investors that oil demand is going to erode over the months to come.

Prices were off sharply again today, and in afternoon trading oil was down another $3.17 a barrel to $56.16, off 5.3% on the day, as the U.S. government lowered its forecast for oil next year to $63.50, down from its previous estimate of $112 that it maintained back in October.

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OPEC decided to cut daily output

Michael Fowlkes — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:28:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Middle East, Market Matters, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

As we discussed last Friday, the recent drop in oil prices prompted OPEC to meet earlier than planned to discuss possible production cuts, and that is exactly what the group of oil producing countries has decided to do, with an announced 1.5 million barrel a day production cut.

It should not come as too much of a surprise to hear about today's plans. Oil has been falling sharply over the past few months, with a $40 price jump in the last month alone. Over the summer we were talking about the record high oil prices, and it was only this past July when prices were nearing $150 a barrel. How times have changed.

Even with today's announcement, oil is down again, as the market continues to worry about a spreading global recession. Earlier in the session oil dropped as low as $61.00 a barrel, and is currently trading down $3.24 to $62.68.

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Oil rises on OPEC rumors

Michael Fowlkes — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Forecasts, Middle East, Oil, Recession

After some sharp drops in oil this week, the precious crude is trading up a bit today to close out the week, as investors are betting that OPEC is going to step in and announce some production cuts aimed at curbing the sell off the market has been seeing recently.

As we already know, oil traders have been sending prices lower as global recession fears have stoked concerns that a broad economic slowdown is going to lead to a drop in global demand. While that is debatable, it is still reason enough for concern, and has kept prices in a virtual free fall the past couple months.

Before oil's most recent declines, OPEC was supposed to next meet in December, but then decided to move up their meeting to November to discuss the current output levels. Today they announced that they were going to move that date up even a bit more, and will gather next week instead, and traders are expecting to hear the group announce reductions in its output.

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If nothing else, gasoline prices are falling!

Michael Fowlkes — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Consumer Experience, Middle East, Economic Data, Commodities, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

It seems like there is always something to worry about these days. Over the summer, the economy was showing signs of what was to come, but the main concern on most of our minds was not the overall economy. Instead, we were worried about the $4 gasoline that we were pumping into our cars.

Now, the tables have turned, and all we are thinking about is the crashing economy. But at least we can take a little pleasure out of the fact that gas is falling, and should continue to drop.

It wasn't that long ago that we were feeling the full brunt of record high gasoline prices. It was July 17, in fact, when the national average hit its peak of $4.114 a gallon. While prices are still running at historically high levels, they have come well off their summer highs, and are currently sitting at an average of $3.48 a gallon nationwide for regular unleaded. A pretty nice pullback, to say the least.

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Oil inventory report pushes prices lower

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:46:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Good news, Consumer Experience, Middle East, Economic Data, Commodities, Oil

Oil prices have been falling today, helped by the release of the weekly inventory report which showed larger than expected reserves in the precious crude.

Going into today's report, analysts were expecting to see the Department of Energy announce that oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week, but in fact we only saw a decline of 1.6 million barrels.

Gasoline is probably more on the minds of most consumers, and what we saw in gasoline demand was even more extreme. Analysts had expected to see a rise of about 500,000 barrels of gasoline supplies last week, but the actual increase came in at 2.9 million barrels, a clear sign that high gasoline prices have forced many of us to cut back on our usage.

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Oil trading higher ahead of today's inventory report

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:47:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, India, China, Middle East, Oil

Oil continued to remain strong with prices moving slightly higher this morning, ahead of today's weekly inventory report. The main reason for prices remaining strong continues to be worries over oil supplies.

Traders have pushed prices through the $142 mark this morning, with the precious crude trading as high as $142.45, but have cooled off a bit and are now sitting at $141.06, which is $0.09 higher on the day. As Douglas McIntyre discussed earlier, typically such high oil prices are expected to put a crimp in demand, but this time around that may not be the case at all. Already many analysts are stating that demand may not fall too much, even with the record high gasoline prices.

We should get a slightly clearer picture on just how true that is later today when the Department of Energy releases the weekly inventory numbers. Last week inventories increased, but that is expected to reverse this week, and analysts are predicting this week's oil inventory numbers to actually show a decline of around 1.2 million barrels (compared with a 800,000 barrel increase that was reported last week).

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