Oil manages to creep higher today even with OPEC supply increase looming
Oil managed to close to the upside today, December 29, even though OPEC+ is set to add another 500,000 barrels a day to output starting in January. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate gained 0.76% to $47.98 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude climbed...
Oil prices stall as Norway settles oil workers strike
Even as Hurricane Delta bears down on the Gulf Coast, oil prices fell today on news that oil workers in Norway had settled a strike that had shut down about 8% of the country’s production. The settlement will restore production at six fields already shut down by the...
U.S. oil shale rig count continues to drop
The number of active oil rigs in the United States fell by 4 to 172, Baker Hughes reported today. That’s the lowest level since 2005 in the days before the U.S. oil shale boom. The news is likely to get worse for U.S. producers and oil service companies. The...
Oil inventories prove stubbornly high
Inventories of gasoline and distillates fell last week, as they should even in a coronavirus-impacted summer driving season, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported today. But crude inventories remained stubbornly high, an indication that the rise in...
Oil keeps on rallying–and takes market with it
Remember how back on April 20 West Texas Intermediate traded at a negative $40.32 a barrel on the futures market? Then the fears were that anyone who owned a forward future and who was forced to accept delivery of that oil would not be able to find a place to store...
Yesterday’s carnage in the May oil futures spreads today to the June futures
After plunging below $0 on Monday as the May futures contracts neared expiration, West Texas Intermediate continued its descent with the price of oil on the June futures falling to $10 a barrel. The problem, clearly, isn’t in just a technical glitch in the...
Jim’s Extra! 5 MORE smart, short-term moves while we wait for longer-term trends to resolve
Jim’s Extras are something new that I’ve added to JubakPicks.com. Jim’s Extras are posts that provide a wider economic or market analysts than the normal diet here of stock specific posts or posts that cover the day’s market moves. Like...
U.S. benchmark oil falls below $20 a barrel on largest increase ever in U.S. inventories
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell below $20 a barrel, the lowest price since 2002, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a huge jump of almost 20 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories. At 1:00 P.m. New York time West Texas...
Oil deal gets a shrug from the oil markets
This take from Goldman Sachs pretty much sums up the oil market’s reaction to Sunday’s agreement among OPEC+, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and various and sundry G20 oil producers to cut what could be generously calculated as 14.7 million barrels a...
Watch out for a wild Thursday (and maybe even Wednesday)
The U.S. stock markets are closed on Friday, April 10, for Good Friday. That sets up a short week and a long weekend–which would be likely to produce higher than normal volume and volatility on Thursday anyway as traders and investors bought and sold to position...
Saudis ramp up oil production
The first tankers in what looks like a long fleet of tankers are loading now in Saudi Arabia on their way to Europe and the United States in April. The Saudi government looks to be making good on its announced increase in output to a record 12.3 million barrels a day...
Oil hits an 18-year low–worse to come as world runs out of storage
As of noon New York time, today March 30, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell another 5.67% to $20.29 a barrel. International benchmark Brent dropped 9.83% to $22.45 a barrel. That’s an 18-year low for oil. And worse is yet to come. The world has run out...
Want a poster child for the disaster in the oil patch? Try Occidental Petroleum
Searching for a case study of why the Saudi Arabia-Russia price war is freaking out Wall Street and the financial markets? Look no further than Occidental Petroleum (OXY). Yesterday the company cut its dividend for the first time in 30 years. And not just by a nickel...
OPEC production curbs collapse in Russia-Saudi fight
It’s over. The three-year marriage of convenience between Saudi Arabia and Russia is done. The Saudi’s argued that Russia and OPEC producers must cut production further in response to falling demand for oil in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. Russia...
Today’s attempt at a bounce doesn’t hold–S&P 500 closes down in New York
This morning it looked like U.S. stocks would bounce from the drop of Monday and Tuesday–about 6% on the Standard & Poor’s 500. As of 10:51 a.m. New York time the index was up 1.64% to 3182.08. But that has turned out to be the high of the day. By...
Market wakes up to coronavirus threat–it’s not just China anymore
What’s different this week? Why is the market plunging today on coronavirus fears when last week it shook off the news? Because the last few days have brought news that the coronavirus isn’t limited to China anymore. From Italy comes a report that the...
OPEC does nothing and markets seem to be ok with that
OPEC reached an agreement today to cut an additional 500,000 barrels a day from production. In reality that action is close to “no action” since OPEC has been informally making those supply reductions for most of the year thanks to voluntary cuts by Saudi...
Oil climbs ahead of December 5 OPEC meeting
Call it very, very cautious optimism. Maybe. Oil prices climbed ahead of the December 5 meeting of OPEC in Vienna. The oil market got a boost from a report today, December 4, from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that showed U.S. crude inventories fell by...
Oil rallies on actual inventory numbers after falling yesterday on projections
The Energy Information Administration reported today that U.S. oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub fell by 2.3 million barrels. That was the biggest draw down in inventory at Cushing in three months. Supplies at the Cushing Hub reflect production in the U.S....
Oil prices under pressure as OPEC meeting looms
Oil prices are down significantly today, November 19, on speculation that data to be released tomorrow will show a fourth straight weekly increase in U.S. oil inventories and nervousness about a successful conclusion to U.S.-China Part 1 trade talks. As of 1:30 p.m....
Odd day: stocks rise on bank earnings oil falls on global growth fears
Good earnings news from big U.S. banks drove U.S. stocks higher today. As of 3 p.m. New York time, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 1.10% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 1.03%. The NASDAQ Composite had climbed .28% and the Russell 2000 small...
Oil pops more than 10% on drone attack in Saudi Arabia–where does it go from here?
Oil prices are higher–much higher–today after a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq processing center knocked out 50% of the country’s oil production. As of 1 p.m. New York time U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 13.58% to $62.30 a...
Bolton departure from White House sends oil tumbling
The resignation/firing of John Bolton, a long-time advocate of military action against Iran, as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, has send oil prices tumbling today. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate is down 2.42% to $56.01 a barrel....
Market rides energy shares higher
This morning the U.S. Energy Information Administration surprised the markets with the report of a bigger than expected decline in oil stockpiles. Crude inventories fell by 10 million barrels for the week ended August 16. The prior week showed a drawdown of 2.7...
President’s remarks remind markets there’s still a trade war going on
At a cabinet meeting today President Donald Trump wanted to remind everyone that he could still impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports if he wants. The President also expressed impatience that the truce in the trade war with China hadn’t yet resulted in a...
Confrontation with Iran continues to heat up
You can measure exactly how worried the oil sector is about more attacks in the Persian Gulf by trading the insurance premiums for oil tankers in the region. War risk premiums for a standard oil cargo from the Persian Gulf and the tanker hauling it can now cost...
Two more oil tankers attacked in Gulf of Oman; here’s how financial assets moved and which might be interesting ahead
For the second time in a month two oil tankers came under attack in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. One ship, a Japanese-owned tanker carrying methanol, was apparently attacked by limpet bombs attached to its hull or by a mine. The second...
Oil and oil stocks take double hit today
The combination of a big build in U.S. crude inventories this week and fears that the escalating U.S.-China trade war will slow global economic growth (and global oil demand) took a big whack out of oil prices and oil stocks today. The U.S. Energy Information...U.S. oil rig count falls again, leading to slight gain for oil prices
Baker Hughes released its weekly count of operating oil and natural gas drilling rigs today instead of on its normal Friday schedule because financial markets are closed tomorrow for Good Friday. The count showed a total drop of 10 rigs to 1012 with 8 fewer oil rigs...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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