Price Action
- West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery rose by $1, or 1.4%, to $73.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
- January Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined by $1.10, or 1.4%, to $78.52 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
- December gasoline gained 1% to $2.12 a gallon, while December heating oil rose by 0.8% to $2.77 a gallon.
- Natural gas for December delivery fell by 1.1% to $4.76 per million British thermal units.
Market Drivers
Crude oil prices continued to slide this week, with the front-month WTI futures contract down more than 4%, following soft economic data from the U.S. and China and rising supply. However, a modest rebound occurred on Friday due to a weaker U.S. dollar.
Analysts expect momentum to carry prices lower, primarily driven by fears of slowing global demand.
According to Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, indicators of an oversupplied physical oil market caused a 5% drop in oil prices: “Oil stocks in the United States have surged, while marginal oil-producing countries worldwide have increased their output.”
WTI crude futures are on track to log a two-week decline of more than 10%, which would be the largest two-week slide since the week ended March 17, according to FactSet data.
