Same Direction: Inventory Consensus and Oil and Natural Gas Prices
Crude oil price movement
This series analyzes crude oil and natural gas prices and fundamentals. For an in-depth fundamental look at crude oil and related companies, sectors, and drivers, please refer to our Energy and Power page.
NYMEX-traded WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil futures contracts for July delivery increased by 1.76% and settled at $61.26 per barrel on June 2, 2015. The depreciation of the US dollar supported crude oil prices. ETFs like the United States Oil Fund LP (USO) and the ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Crude Oil (UCO) mirrored WTI’s crude oil price direction in yesterday’s trade. They rallied by 1.57% and 3.29%, respectively, on June 2.
The US Dollar Index depreciated against the basket of currencies on Tuesday. It fell by 1.59% and closed at 95.83 levels on June 2, 2015. This supported the dollar denominated commodity, WTI crude oil. The speculation of Greece entering a deal with the creditors pushed the US dollar lower against the euro.
Yesterday, the API (American Petroleum Institute) published the WTI crude oil stockpile estimates. The weekly crude oil stockpile rose by 1.8 MMbbls (million barrels) for the week ending May 29. Over the same period, market estimates show that the stockpile dropped by 1.7 MMbbls. The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) will release the crude oil stockpile report on June 3, 2015. Weekly US commercial crude oil inventories dropped by 2.8 MMbbls for the week ending May 22.
This is the sixth up day for WTI crude oil in the last ten days. Oil prices fell by 0.37% more on the average down days than on the average up days, over the same period. WTI fared well against other commodities in yesterday’s trade. Crude oil prices rose by 14.4% YTD (year-to-date)—led by massive imports from China and Japan.
The volatility in crude oil prices affects oil and gas companies like Newfield Exploration (NFX), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), and Hess (HES). These companies have a crude oil production mix that’s greater than 53% of their total production. Together, these companies account for 4.92% of the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE).
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