- U.S. crude oil continues to sizzle, settling +1% at $74.15/bbl, its best closing price since November 2014 and capping a four-session winning streak on the back of declining crude inventories and rising concerns over supply disruptions.
- Prices for the front-month WTI contract jumped 8% this week, 11% for the month, 14% for the quarter and nearly 23% so far this year.
- Brent crude gained even more today, +2% to $79.44/bbl, just shy of a three-and-a-half year high, although its longer-term gains have been a bit less dramatic than WTI, rising 5% for the week, 2.4% for the month, 13% for Q2 and 18.8% YTD.
- Even as Saudi Arabia and other countries prepared to increase production, prices have been lifted by threats to supply from Iran, Libya, Venezuela and even Canada; in Libya, the supply of up to 780K bbl/day is at risk, according to analysts at Commerzbank (DE:CBKG).
- At the same time, infrastructure constraints in U.S. shale - particularly in the Permian Basin - have limited supply expansion.
- "It is becoming increasingly clear that Saudi Arabia and Russia will struggle to compensate for potential losses in oil production from the likes of Venezuela, Iran and Libya," says Interfax Energy analyst Abhishek Kumar.
- ETFs: USO, XLE, OIL, UWT, UCO, VDE, XOP, DWT, ERX, OIH, SCO, BNO, DBO, ERY, DIG, BGR, GUSH, DTO, FENY, USL, IYE, DUG, DRIP, IEO, FIF, DNO, NDP, PXE, OLO, RYE, PXJ, SZO, CRAK, FXN, OLEM, WTIU, DDG, OILK, NANR, OILX, WTID, USOI, USOU, USOD, FTXN, JHME, UBRT, ERYY, DBRT, ERGF, OILD, OILU, USAI
- Now read: Oil Equities Play Catch-Up With Crude Oil
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