Crude oil futures grew in February
The price of WTI crude oil futures rose sharply on Friday to record its first monthly increase of seven months amid speculation about shrinking US production. The New York traded raw material with delivery in April rose by 3.3% on Friday and closed the week at 49.76 USD per barrel. The sharp rise in the […]
The price of WTI crude oil futures rose sharply on Friday to record its first monthly increase of seven months amid speculation about shrinking US production. The New York traded raw material with delivery in April rose by 3.3% on Friday and closed the week at 49.76 USD per barrel. The sharp rise in the trend extended the significant price volatility over the past few weeks. The price rise or fall by more than 2% in direction 25 of the last 38 trading sessions.
On Thursday the WTI crude oil wiped by 5.53%, to close at 48.17 USD per barrel. Weekly the US crude oil price fell by 2.71%, registering the second consecutive weekly decline. However, contracts rose by 0.91% in February, cutting seven consecutive months of decline.
The research showed they the number of platforms for oil production in USA fell by another 33 last week to 986, which is the lowest level since June 2011. The number of crude oil extraction platforms decreased in 17 of the past 20 weeks after hitting a record high of 1609 in mid-October.
The market participants pay particular attention to the number of platforms in recent months, expecting ultimately to reduce the glut of global oil market. However, the total crude oil reserves in USA rose to 434.1 million barrels last week, which is the highest level of at least 80 years.
Meanwhile London Brent oil with delivery in April rose with 4.21% on Friday to close the week at 60.05 USD per barrel. The April contracts rose by 3.3% for the week in view of concerns about disruptions in production in Libya and Iraq. February trading price in London Brent oil rose by 15.31%, taking into account the first monthly growth since June 2014 and the highest monthly increase in nearly six years.
The Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia, Ali al-Naimi said earlier last week that oil markets have stabilized after a long period of volatility at the end of last year. The price of crude oil fell sharply in recent months, after OPEC resisted calls to reduce production. The US, spurred yield the fastest pace in more than three decades, creating a glut in global supplies.
The spread between Brent and WTI reached 10.29 USD per barrel at the end of trading on Friday compared to 9.41 USD the previous week.
