Crude Oil Futures

  Although the prices of crude oil slightly recovered from the steady downward trend, it is unlikely to reach the economically-crucial $100 a barrel anytime soon, even by the predictions of the fierce optimists - and chartists. The slight rise in price during the last few days, which is more of an anomaly than a spike based on hard facts, does not reflect the ground realities: it happened, for instance, when the US crude stocks showed a significant build; the manufacturing output in China, the world's second largest economy, continued to slide for four successive months; the price of LNG, liquified natural gas, has come down steeply despite the serious cold spells in the northern hemisphere; the global worry about a potential new Covid-19 variant is still looming large. As far as the world's second largest consumer of crude oil is concerned, the latest data released by the National Bureau of   Statistics  of China clearly shows that the PMI - Manufacturing Purchasing Managers&#

  As the US braced itself for the so-called bomb cyclone before the weekend, the oil price that has been plummeting for weeks, got a sudden boost and went up. As crude oil markets closed on Friday, WTI, Brent and LNG, liquified natural gas, stood at $79.56,$83.92 and $5.08 respectively.  It is obvious, that the arrival of a very cold weather front - and potential destruction to lives, properties and infrastructure - made the investors and consumers nervous that in turn the boosted the price of oil. In addition, some analysts quickly attributed the rise in price of crude oil to the relaxation of rigid Covid-19 rules adopted by China, the world's second largest consumer. What is unclear, however, is whether the measure actually stemmed from the cumulative decline in infections or a knee-jerk reaction by the authorities in response to public anger at the harsh measures taken to combat the spread of the disease. According to the latest media reports, China is not out of the woods yet,

  The price of crude oil has been falling for weeks and the US crude stocks are no longer the crucial factor that determines its trend. Had it not been for the relatively high price of LNG, liquified natural gas, the fall of oil price would have been much steeper and more painful for the producers. The price of oil price crossed the psychologically-sensitive $100 mark at the height of summer in the northern hemisphere while wreaking havoc in the global economy as a whole: the economies were tentatively recovering from the once-in-a-century pandemic; the inflation skyrocketed; collective productivity shrunk in major economic power houses due to high energy costs. The outbreak of Ukraine war in February, meanwhile, left the decision makers dumbfounded as the room for political maneuvers got smaller and smaller, in proportion to the rising rhetoric - and counter-rhetoric - by the parties involved.  Since a major, global oil - and gas - producer is at the heart of the conflict, it goes wit

  The oil price that rose for two successive days before the weekend, only to fall back to where it was during the most part of last week, rose slightly on Monday when markets were open for business.  Since a massive US crude draw could not lift the prices of crude oil and sustain it, the rise we witnessed on Monday morning is going to be yet another flash in the pan - as far as the oil producers are concerned, of course.  Monday's oil price rally perhaps may have been prompted by the news that China is relaxing its rigid anti-Covid-19 measures that had resulted in sheer public inconvenience; it, in turn, has led to rare, sporadic protests around major industrial cities.  To its credit, China has been successful in curbing the spread of virus, though.  The measures, however, have taken its toll on the Chinese economy: its every major economic index has been in decline since June; in November alone, its Manufacturing PMI has fallen by 1.2% - a significant event. Since China is the w

The price of crude oil that had been falling for three successive weeks, received a substantial boost this week from none other than the EIA, the US Energy Information Administration. The EIA reported a massive crude draw on Wednesday in its weekly report: there was a draw of 12.58 million barrels during the week ending November 25; it's almost 6 times larger than the estimated figure for the same period. Up until the latest data was released, the correlation between the price of crude oil and the US crude stocks was, more or less, chaotic; it was very difficult to gauge the connection, if any, even with the state-of-the art AI, when the matter in question almost bordered on irrelevance.  The fall of crude stocks this week, however, is so significant that the investors appeared to have managed to breathe a sigh of relief - finally, judging by their response to the news, of course.  As of 16:30 GMT on Friday, the prices of WTI, Brent and LNG were at $81.47, $86.91 and $6.62 respecti

  European gas prices that have been steadily rising in the last two weeks played a definite role in stopping the crude oil from plummeting due to gloomy economic developments across the world. With the unseasonably mild temperatures in the continent, mercury rising into double digits on many days, the demand for LNG, liquified natural gas, has not gone exponential yet, despite the concerns to the contrary; in addition, the countries in the EU managed to fill up their gas reserves from myriads of sources and consumers in the bloc heeded the calls from the leaders to cut down on the use of gas in their households. The temperatures in some parts of Europe are so unusually high that it is called the onset of the 'second spring', as the conditions have resulted in plants in bloom again! In Wales, for instance, the highest reported temperature in November is 16 0 C. Since the pattern of warmer temperatures has been a crucial factor in keeping the price of LNG at the current levels,

  The price of crude oil tumbled further when the markets opened for business on Monday, reflecting the widespread anxieties over the health of the global economy, exacerbated by the rising energy costs. As of 11:45 GMT, the prices of WTI, Brent and LNG, liquified natural gas, were at $79.76, $87.34 and $6.26 respectively; the fall of crude oil price that we witnessed on Thursday, last week, continued unabated on Monday morning with one notable trend - the rate of fall; it was fairly steep, indeed. With the UK already in recession - and bracing itself for the scenario of shrinking further - the contagion could move faster across the continent and even further in the coming months, according to the seasoned analysts. As far as Europe is concerned, the gas reserves are almost full and the fact that the temperatures remaining relatively high in the fall appears to have helped the governments in the EU weather the storm - for now. If the temperatures, however, come down in the next three m

  The short-lived boost enjoyed by the oil markets, thanks to the significant crude draw announced by the EIA, US Energy Information Administration, this week lost its spark on Thursday as the gloomy economic news grabbed the headlines - once again. Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of Exchequer of the UK, for instance, did not mince his words when he depicted the state of the economy in the UK in his Autumn Statement: he admitted that the UK was already in recession and it could shrink even further; in response, there was a significant drop in the price of oil, as shown above in the animation. It is not just the UK that is caught up in economic headwinds; in the US, the technology sector has been in the news for the past couple of weeks, reflecting the precarious situation faced by it, something  that had already trigged off the unprecedented mass layoffs.  The war in Ukraine and political discords involving key global players, meanwhile, do not create a conducive atmosphere to stem the tid

The price of crude oil that had been steadily rising for the past three weeks lost its momentum once again on Tuesday and continued to stay that way on Wednesday, when the markets opened for business. Analysts are divided when it comes to gauging the impact of the outcome of the US midterm elections on the price of crude oil. Judging by the results so far, the final outcome is still too close to call; Democrats can, however, breathe a collective sigh of relief that it was not a spell of midterm blues that they feared over range of critical issues that bother electorate, ranging from energy crises to high inflation. As of 10:30 GMT on Wednesday, the price of WTI, Brent and LNG, liquified natural gas, stood at $88.34, $94.86, and $6.14 respectively. The two major benchmarks of crude oil hit the highest on Monday after a lengthy period of price stagnation - before changing dramatically, a day later. The prevailing sentiments in the markets got a boost during the latter part of the past we

The price of crude oil, which almost mimicked a turbulent whirlpool in a swollen river for the past few weeks, finally seemed to have found a certain sense of direction. For three successive weeks, it has been rising despite the endless gloomy, economic news that has cast an ominous shadow across the globe: the unprecedented interest rate hikes, rampant inflation, stagnation of the tech sector and the relative apathy of consumers for spending, to name but a few. Against this backdrop, the frequent, random lockdowns by China, the world's largest importer of crude oil, hardly helped resurrecting the sentiment in the oil sector. There are, however, encouraging signs that China is finally relaxing their rigid Zero-Covid approach in order to minimize the inevitable, collective economic cost associated with it; the reported relaxation of the curbed imposed on air travel over Covid-19 is a case in point. In another development, Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, reduced the price of crude oil for A

Apart from incurring the wrath of the US, the OPEC+ does not seem to have achieved any substantial financial benefit from its much-trumpeted production cut announced on October 5, in response to the falling oil prices for a few weeks before it. Although the production cut grabbed the headlines with a scary figure of 2 million barrels a day, the actual amount, according to seasoned OPEC watchers, could be somewhere in the range of 1 - 2 million bpd. It is true that before the announcement was made, the price of crude oil had been falling faster than analysts' predictions, while making mockery of certain investment bankers, who saw price hitting above $200 a barrel in the fall!  The fall in price, however,  has  since  been modest  and it is difficult to associate it with the announcement of the OPEC+ in October. On one hand, there are plenty of  concerns on other fronts: the major global economies see their growth forecasts lowered; inflation is wreaking havoc across the globe; the