WTI $59.32 +0.38.
Wednesday's 5-month high was $62.58, just about the time we were posting:
Although we continue to look for another trip below $50 we're starting to look a little silly calling for it publicly.Well we've picked up three bucks, woo-hoo, toward the target.
NYMEX June WTI $62.35 +$1.95.
From the Financial Times:
Shale-oil is in competition with supplies already in storage, writes Izabella Kaminska
So crude oil is nearly back up to the price at which it was trading on November 27 — the day the Opec oil cartel decided not to cut production but rather to start a price war with the US shale producers. Right?...MUCH MORE
Yes. This week North Sea Brent, the international oil benchmark, hit a level just shy of the low achieved that day of $71.25 per barrel — though it did close the week at a slightly lower $65.
Ah. So prices have gone right back up. Has Opec had the last laugh after all?
Actually, now could be the moment things become interesting again.
Why do you say that?
The recovery in the price, from a low in January of $45 per barrel, is caused by a combination of predictable factors. First, as any armchair economist would predict, low prices have led to a rise in petrol consumption in the US and China. This in turn has led to a rise in prices at the pump, encouraging refineries all over the US to transform as much crude oil into refined product as possible before summer — which is when US drivers go on vacation and use a lot more petrol.
Isn’t the US supposedly overflowing with crude supplies?
Inventories are more than 121m barrels above their usual level for this time of year. In the past few weeks, however, the rate of increase has slowed, with the first reduction in stocks in 16 weeks being recorded at the start of May....
