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Crude oil futures closed lower after a fourth consecutive week of gains, driven by a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude inventories, renewed hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates, and rising geopolitical risks in the United States. middle east.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly report, crude oil and refined product inventories declined across the board, with stockpiles falling by 12.2 million barrels, gasoline inventories falling by 2.2 million barrels and distillate inventories falling by 1.5 million barrels.
A range of data releases this week have raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell made relatively dovish comments at the European Central Bank meeting, acknowledging that inflation finally appears to be heading in the right direction.
On the supply side, Hurricane Beryl is expected to batter Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and make a second landfall between Mexico and Texas next week after moving across the Gulf of Mexico. Several oil companies have evacuated some staff from offshore oil platforms but do not expect a major impact on production.
Tensions also rose between Israel and Hezbollah this week, with the Iranian-backed militia firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli targets in retaliation for the killing of a senior military official this week, but efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement to release hostages appeared to gain momentum on Friday.
The August NYMEX Crude Oil (CL1:COM) contract closed over the weekend. +2% It was down 0.8% on Friday to $83.16 per barrel, while front-month September Brent Crude (CO1:COM) ended the week lower. +1.8% It rose to $86.54 a barrel, including a 1% drop on Friday.
Crude oil prices have risen for four consecutive weeks, but U.S. natural gas prices have fallen over the same period, with August NYMEX gas futures prices -10.8% It fell 4.1% to its lowest settlement since May 10 at $2.319/MMBtu on Friday.
ETFs: (NYSEARCA:USO), (BNO), (UCO), (SCO), (USL), (DBO), (DRIP), (GUSH), (NRGU), (USOI), (UNG), (BOIL), (KOLD), (UNL), (FCG)
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia cut prices for all crude it sells to Asia, lowering the official selling price of its flagship Arab Light for August loading by $0.60-1.80 a barrel below the Dubai, Oman average, a move that underscores the pressure OPEC producers are facing from a big increase in non-OPEC supply.
However, Arab Light’s price cut Less important than expectedTraders and refineries were expecting a $0.90 per barrel drop, DNB Markets said.
The energy sector, represented by the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLE), was the worst performing sector during the shortened week. -1.1%.
Top 10 Energy and Natural Resources Gainers Over the Last 5 Days: Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) +75.1%Skeena Resources (SKE) +29%Century Aluminum (CENX) +26.7%Ramaco Resources (METC) +18.3%Idaho Strategic Resources (IDR) +17%Metals Acquisition (MTAL) +16%Warrior Met Call (METC) +15.7%AngloGold Ashanti (AU) +15.4%US Gold (USAU) +14.4%Sibanye-Stillwater (SBSW) +14.2%.
Top 5 Energy and Natural Resources stocks that fell over the last 5 days: TPI Composite (TPIC) -18.2%Critical Metals (CRML) -15.8%Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) -14.5%Green Plains (GPRE) -13.3%Fluence Energy (FLNC) -13.3%.
Source: Barchart.com
