CALGARY, Oct 30, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----Sharon Energy Ltd. (TSXV:SHY) today reported that the Company has acquired, over the last three months, approximately 5,400 gross acres in the Eagleford Shale play, located in Texas. Sharon and its partner have 4,250 net acres. Sharon has a 50 % working interest in the net acres and is the Operator of the project.
Sharon's acreage is on trend with the recently announced gas discovery by Petrohawk Energy Corporation and a large development program, operated by Apache Corporation.
On October 21, 2008, Petrohawk announced the successful completion of the STS #241-1H well that had an initial production of 7.6 MMcfd and 250 Bbls condensate per day.
Apache's investor presentation, released on October 23, 2008, which can be found on Apache's web site, confirmed that it has an ongoing program to evaluate the play and had drilled and completed four horizontal oil wells to date, with initial production rates of 170 to 345 bopd.
Sharon's acreage has numerous existing wellbores which Sharon believes can be re-entered, drilled horizontally and stage frac'd within the Eagleford Shale. The use of existing wellbores will significantly reduce the capital expenditures required for Sharon's development program.
Sharon is continuing to acquire additional acreage in the area and a development plan for the area is being prepared.
Sharon is an oil and gas exploration and production company based in Calgary, Alberta. Sharon's current focus is on gas and oil development and exploration in Texas.
ADVISORY: Certain information regarding the Company in this News Release including management's assessment of future plans and operations, drilling and completion plans and the timing thereof, may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks including, without limitation, risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, loss of markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of reserve estimates, environmental risks, competition from other producers, inability to retain drilling rigs and other services, capital expenditure costs, including drilling, completion and facilities costs, unexpected decline rates in wells, wells not performing as expected, incorrect assessment of the value of acquisitions, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, delays resulting from or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhausted. Additional information on these and other factors that could effect the Company's operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) and at the Company's website (www.sharonenergy.com). Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. SOURCE Sharon Energy Ltd.
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Weak Demand Driving Oil Prices Down, Not Supply
While OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla el-Badri said the leaders of countries will definitely get together again if the recent daily cut of 1.5 million barrels in oil production doesn't curb plunging prices, it won't really matter, as it's not supply driving prices down, but demand.
Jittery consumers will continue to cut back on driving and traveling in response to the credit crisis and economic weakness.
"Until you see a change in economic sentiment, there won't be any sustained rallies in the oil market," said Kyle Cooper, an analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston. OPEC "can announce all the cuts they like and the market will ignore it."
Even if there is another meeting and decisions made to drop daily production more, it's doubtful all the countries would be willing or able to comply with the agreement anyway, which would do more harm to OPEC than help, as it would make it look even more desparate.
A number of OPEC countries are in great need for cash just like most countries around the world.
Gasoline usage dropped again last week, falling by 6.4 percent from the same period a year ago. Declining prices at the gas stations did nothing to jumpstart demand.
Crude oil closed down 49 cents today for December delivery, settling at $62.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In after-hour trading it rebounded some to $64.37 a barrel at about 4:00 EST.
On the London Ice Futures Europe exchange, Brent crude fell another $1.12, to settle at $60.29 a barrel.
Jittery consumers will continue to cut back on driving and traveling in response to the credit crisis and economic weakness.
"Until you see a change in economic sentiment, there won't be any sustained rallies in the oil market," said Kyle Cooper, an analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston. OPEC "can announce all the cuts they like and the market will ignore it."
Even if there is another meeting and decisions made to drop daily production more, it's doubtful all the countries would be willing or able to comply with the agreement anyway, which would do more harm to OPEC than help, as it would make it look even more desparate.
A number of OPEC countries are in great need for cash just like most countries around the world.
Gasoline usage dropped again last week, falling by 6.4 percent from the same period a year ago. Declining prices at the gas stations did nothing to jumpstart demand.
Crude oil closed down 49 cents today for December delivery, settling at $62.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In after-hour trading it rebounded some to $64.37 a barrel at about 4:00 EST.
On the London Ice Futures Europe exchange, Brent crude fell another $1.12, to settle at $60.29 a barrel.
Friday, October 24, 2008
OPEC Cuts Oil Production by 1.5 Million Barrels a Day
As expected today, OPEC announced it was making significant cuts in oil production, dropping it by 1.5 million barrels a day. That's about half-way between the 1 million to 2 million barrel cut analysts were looking for.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil was quick to communicate that the cuts weren't for the purpose of prices increasing, but to keep them from falling to unsustainable levels.
OPEC came under fire from some quarters for possibly fueling the flames of the economic crisis rather than helping it out.
Still, Khelil added that if prices continue to drop, OPEC was ready to step in at any time and reduce production again until prices stabilize.
Even with the oil production cuts, prices plunged by 5 percent today, dropping to below $63 a barrel at one point in the trading session. At about noon EST prices stood at $64.51 a barrel.
As Commodity Surge says, here's OPEC's problem:
"OPEC is of course cautious in their approach, as some of the other oil-producing nations pressured them to cut production by at least 2 million barrels a day. The problem they face is if they cut it too much, and prices surge too high, consumers will cut back even more on expenses, and the plan would backfire."
OPEC seems to be attempting to keep prices from falling below $60 a barrel.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil was quick to communicate that the cuts weren't for the purpose of prices increasing, but to keep them from falling to unsustainable levels.
OPEC came under fire from some quarters for possibly fueling the flames of the economic crisis rather than helping it out.
Still, Khelil added that if prices continue to drop, OPEC was ready to step in at any time and reduce production again until prices stabilize.
Even with the oil production cuts, prices plunged by 5 percent today, dropping to below $63 a barrel at one point in the trading session. At about noon EST prices stood at $64.51 a barrel.
As Commodity Surge says, here's OPEC's problem:
"OPEC is of course cautious in their approach, as some of the other oil-producing nations pressured them to cut production by at least 2 million barrels a day. The problem they face is if they cut it too much, and prices surge too high, consumers will cut back even more on expenses, and the plan would backfire."
OPEC seems to be attempting to keep prices from falling below $60 a barrel.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Scott Bleier Predicts Oil will Fall to $50 a Barrel
Scott Bleier was right in mid-July when he said the commodity boom was going to go through a correction, and with that correction oil would fall to $100 a barrel.
He was wrong only in that it has fallen far below that, and now Scott says it'll fall as low as $50 a barrel. He could very well be right.
Forced liquidation of commodities by large funds, as well as decreased demand, could pressure it even lower than $50.
OPEC's upcoming emergency session where they're expected to decrease daily oil production by 1 million a day in order to stop the price plunge, probably won't have the desired effect, and oil will continue to fall.
He was wrong only in that it has fallen far below that, and now Scott says it'll fall as low as $50 a barrel. He could very well be right.
Forced liquidation of commodities by large funds, as well as decreased demand, could pressure it even lower than $50.
OPEC's upcoming emergency session where they're expected to decrease daily oil production by 1 million a day in order to stop the price plunge, probably won't have the desired effect, and oil will continue to fall.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Crude Oil Prices Continue to Fall off the Cliff: Now at 15-Month Low
In intraday trading crude oil fell of the cliff again, plunging by over $4 a barrel - a 15-month low. The continued fall in oil prices is completely tied to consumer demand, which has dropped as people cut back on spending on anything but essentials.
December delivery for crude oil dropped by $4.25 to $67.93 a barrel shortly after 11:00 a.m. EST today on the NYMEX. Oil futures hit a low of $67.50, the worst showing since June 27, 2007.
On London's ICE Futures Europe exchange, Brent crude has dropped by $3.40 for the December settlement, a 4.9 percent fall. It now stands at $66.32 a barrel. That's the lowest price since May 10, 2007.
For the week ending October 17, fuel demand in the U.S. averaged 18.7 million barrels a day, according to the report of the Energy Department released today. That's down 8.5 percent from the same period last year.
Average use of gasoline has also fallen, now averaging 8.8 million barrels a day for the last four weeks, down from last year by 4.3 percent.
With distillate fuel (heating oil, diesel) use also dropping significantly, we can see demand for oil will continue to fall for some time.
Even though the unprecedented special meeting by OPEC next month is expected to result in the cutback of 1 million barrels a day in production, that will do nothing to change the demand factor until the global economy recovers. That isn't going to happen any time soon.
Part of the result of all this will be less travel, which will affect not only oil companies, but airlines and shipping companies as well.
Oil inventories also continue to rise, as there was an increase of 3.18 millon barrels to 311.4 million barrels, the fourth time in a row.
December delivery for crude oil dropped by $4.25 to $67.93 a barrel shortly after 11:00 a.m. EST today on the NYMEX. Oil futures hit a low of $67.50, the worst showing since June 27, 2007.
On London's ICE Futures Europe exchange, Brent crude has dropped by $3.40 for the December settlement, a 4.9 percent fall. It now stands at $66.32 a barrel. That's the lowest price since May 10, 2007.
For the week ending October 17, fuel demand in the U.S. averaged 18.7 million barrels a day, according to the report of the Energy Department released today. That's down 8.5 percent from the same period last year.
Average use of gasoline has also fallen, now averaging 8.8 million barrels a day for the last four weeks, down from last year by 4.3 percent.
With distillate fuel (heating oil, diesel) use also dropping significantly, we can see demand for oil will continue to fall for some time.
Even though the unprecedented special meeting by OPEC next month is expected to result in the cutback of 1 million barrels a day in production, that will do nothing to change the demand factor until the global economy recovers. That isn't going to happen any time soon.
Part of the result of all this will be less travel, which will affect not only oil companies, but airlines and shipping companies as well.
Oil inventories also continue to rise, as there was an increase of 3.18 millon barrels to 311.4 million barrels, the fourth time in a row.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Oil Prices Will Continue to Fall
There's no question that the trend for oil prices has changed, and for a period of time we'll see that trend continue down.
A major reason I believe this will happen is the nature of trends themselves; it simply takes time for a trend to stop and turn itself around. The reason it takes time is because a trend is simply the response of human beings to a situation, and most human beings are slow to catch on and change.
In other words, people will neglect the underlying fundamentals at times of emotional turbulence and simply follow the crowd. Many times they do it as "bulls" and other times they do it as "bears." We are seeing the bears rear their heads in oil now, and that isn't going to stop in the short term.
While we know over a period of time that demand will start to surge again, as American consumers start to increase their driving again, and emerging market giants like China and India increase their acquisition of oil, and other commodities as well, we also know that they're cutting back on buying now, and that slowdown should continue.
One factor that could slow down this trend is if OPEC slashes production so much that it drives the cost of oil artificially above its market price. That could happen next month when they get together in an unprecedented emergency session to decide on what to do with the oil price drop.
We very well could see oil prices plunge much further before they begin their inevitable climb back up. Much of that will be determined by how long the fear factor reminds in the psyche of consumers, which has caused them to lower their consumption practices.
A major reason I believe this will happen is the nature of trends themselves; it simply takes time for a trend to stop and turn itself around. The reason it takes time is because a trend is simply the response of human beings to a situation, and most human beings are slow to catch on and change.
In other words, people will neglect the underlying fundamentals at times of emotional turbulence and simply follow the crowd. Many times they do it as "bulls" and other times they do it as "bears." We are seeing the bears rear their heads in oil now, and that isn't going to stop in the short term.
While we know over a period of time that demand will start to surge again, as American consumers start to increase their driving again, and emerging market giants like China and India increase their acquisition of oil, and other commodities as well, we also know that they're cutting back on buying now, and that slowdown should continue.
One factor that could slow down this trend is if OPEC slashes production so much that it drives the cost of oil artificially above its market price. That could happen next month when they get together in an unprecedented emergency session to decide on what to do with the oil price drop.
We very well could see oil prices plunge much further before they begin their inevitable climb back up. Much of that will be determined by how long the fear factor reminds in the psyche of consumers, which has caused them to lower their consumption practices.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Crude Oil Inventory Pressures Commodity Below $69
Most industry watchers had their suspicions confirmed concerning an expanding crude oil inventory in the U.S., as the government report revealed a declining demand as consumers cut back on spending, causing the investory to rise.
As of about 11 a.m. EST, November delivery for light, sweet crude dropped by $4.73 to $68.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The last time oil prices were this low was on August 22, 2007, when the session finished at $69.26 a barrel. Prices have plunged since the high of $147 a barrel in July.
What triggered an even bigger fall than looked for was the amount of the inventory growth. Most analysts expected inventories to rise, but were looking for about 3.1 million barrels, instead inventory grew by a more-than-expected 5.6 million barrels for the week ending October 10.
Gasoline inventory tracked oil inventory, rising by 7 million barrels. According to the Energy Information Administration, gasonline demand has fallen by 5.2 percent over the last four weeks, averaging 8.8 million barrels a day, said the agency.
As of about 11 a.m. EST, November delivery for light, sweet crude dropped by $4.73 to $68.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The last time oil prices were this low was on August 22, 2007, when the session finished at $69.26 a barrel. Prices have plunged since the high of $147 a barrel in July.
What triggered an even bigger fall than looked for was the amount of the inventory growth. Most analysts expected inventories to rise, but were looking for about 3.1 million barrels, instead inventory grew by a more-than-expected 5.6 million barrels for the week ending October 10.
Gasoline inventory tracked oil inventory, rising by 7 million barrels. According to the Energy Information Administration, gasonline demand has fallen by 5.2 percent over the last four weeks, averaging 8.8 million barrels a day, said the agency.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Oil Plunges to 13-month Low on Demand Concerns
Concerns over the global economy continues to pummel oil prices, as it dropped to a 13-month low below $71 a barrel early Wednesday. Demand continues to shrink as consumers cut back on spending.
Most of this is based on the biggest oil consumer in the world, the U.S., where demand continues to diminish over the financial crisis.
November delivery for Brent North Sea crude fell to $70.70 a barrel, a $3.6 drop from Tuesday's close.
Delivery for November light sweet crude in New York also experienced a significant drop, falling as low as $74.93 a barrel, before recovering to $75.23 a barrel.
OPEC, which has taken the unusual step of meeting a month before their scheduled December meeting, has cut back its 2009 estimate for demand, citing the continuing economic climate in the U.S.
On Thursday there'll be an update on where U.S energy inventory stand, which will give a clearer picture on how the demand factor is playing out in the country.
Most of this is based on the biggest oil consumer in the world, the U.S., where demand continues to diminish over the financial crisis.
November delivery for Brent North Sea crude fell to $70.70 a barrel, a $3.6 drop from Tuesday's close.
Delivery for November light sweet crude in New York also experienced a significant drop, falling as low as $74.93 a barrel, before recovering to $75.23 a barrel.
OPEC, which has taken the unusual step of meeting a month before their scheduled December meeting, has cut back its 2009 estimate for demand, citing the continuing economic climate in the U.S.
On Thursday there'll be an update on where U.S energy inventory stand, which will give a clearer picture on how the demand factor is playing out in the country.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Oil Prices Rise on Enthusiasm, not Fundamentals
Oil prices increased by $3.49 to end the session at $81.19 a barrel for November delivery, as leaders presented a unity to the world in an effort to shore up confidence in the global marketplace. Oil basically rose on that euphoria, rather than any change in fundamentals.
Brent North Sea crude in London gained close to light sweet crude in the U.S., as it increased by $3.37 a barrel to $77.46.
Even so, the slowing demand for oil hasn't changed, and nothing, other than the possibility that the emergency meeting by OPEC next month may result in resistance to downward price pressures, will stop the price of oil from continuing to fall. They would attempt to do that by lowering production levels.
If they were to do that, there would probably be significant international pressure for them to keep production levels close to where they are.
In other financial news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its highest one-day point gain in history, gold continues to fall, and the U.S. dollar fell against many major currencies, even though an unprecedented unlimited dollar fund auction will be held by the central banks of several nations.
Brent North Sea crude in London gained close to light sweet crude in the U.S., as it increased by $3.37 a barrel to $77.46.
Even so, the slowing demand for oil hasn't changed, and nothing, other than the possibility that the emergency meeting by OPEC next month may result in resistance to downward price pressures, will stop the price of oil from continuing to fall. They would attempt to do that by lowering production levels.
If they were to do that, there would probably be significant international pressure for them to keep production levels close to where they are.
In other financial news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its highest one-day point gain in history, gold continues to fall, and the U.S. dollar fell against many major currencies, even though an unprecedented unlimited dollar fund auction will be held by the central banks of several nations.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Oil Falls Over $9 to End at 13-month Low on Friday
Oil prices plummeted to a 13-month low Friday, following ongoing dramatic stock market losses, as investors fear that the anemic global economy is having negative impact of fuel demand.
Crude for November delivery in the U.S. plunged $9.21 to $77.38 a barrel, the lowest its been since September 11 2007 when it hit a mid-day low of $77.
The Dow Jones industrials lost 128 points Friday, as it limped to the end of the wild session where it traded in a range of 1019 points during the day.
As economic concern drives people to tighten up their wallets, demand for oil continues to drop, as in the U.S. last week supplies increased by 8.1 million barrels, indicating people are cutting back on usage.
OPEC nations are starting to go into panic mode as well, calling an emergency session on November 18, a month before the regularly scheduled meeting.
It is expected they are going to decide to cut back on production in order to shore up prices, but that will be futile as problems are much bigger than they can affect.
The U.S. government and others will soon find out that they need to quit interfering in all markets and let them take care of what they know how to do. The market after all consists of people and businesses in their enormous number of interactions during this period of time; they'll know how to best respond to the government-induced financial crisis.
According to AAA, the average gas price per gallon in the U.S. is now at $3.35 a gallon.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Increase While Demand Slackens
Crude oil and gasoline inventories increased last week in the U.S., as crude supplies grew by 8.1 million barrels to 302.6 million, according to the Energy Information Administration.
As expected, the lowering demand because of economic fears, along with the growing inventory has put downward pressure on prices as oil dropped below $87 a barrel early in the day for November delivery. Gasoline futures also fell by over 10 cents to their lowest levels in a year.
Most analysts were surprised by the amount the oil inventory rose, as they had looked for a 6 percent gain, while the real gain was 8.6 percent, now bringing inventories up to 80.9 percent of capacity as of last week.
Gasoline supplies increased 7.2 million barrels to end the week at 186.8 million. Some analysts were especially surprised here, as they were looking more for an increase of around 1.1 million barrels.
As expected, the lowering demand because of economic fears, along with the growing inventory has put downward pressure on prices as oil dropped below $87 a barrel early in the day for November delivery. Gasoline futures also fell by over 10 cents to their lowest levels in a year.
Most analysts were surprised by the amount the oil inventory rose, as they had looked for a 6 percent gain, while the real gain was 8.6 percent, now bringing inventories up to 80.9 percent of capacity as of last week.
Gasoline supplies increased 7.2 million barrels to end the week at 186.8 million. Some analysts were especially surprised here, as they were looking more for an increase of around 1.1 million barrels.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Economic Fears Spread to Europe as Oil Continues to Tumble
Oil continues its nosedive as demand continues to slacken in response to economic fears spreading in Europe.
Oil consumption in the U.S. fell by 7.1 percent over the last four weeks in contrast to last year during the same time. Use is now at about 19 million barrels a day in the U.S.
Crude had dropped as low as $87.56 a barrel in the afternoon, while settling at $87.80 for November delivery of light sweet crude. That was a fall of $6.07 for the day.
Brent North Sea crude also fell significantly, settling at $83.68 a barrel for November delivery, dropping $6.57 for the session.
The lagging participation of the European economy in the economic downturn is now over, and what has happened in the U.S. is now emerging in Europe. That has also caused the U.S. dollar to strengthen significantly against the euro, while also causing gold to be held back for now as a safe haven.
For oil, the new world of bailouts and economic fears leaves it in a place of probable continued decline in price as demand slows around the globe. India and China demand will slow as well, with China now exporting some gasoline because of slow domestic demand.
As far as the U.S. bailout by the government, it didn't do much to placate investors, as they have started to pour their money into short-term dollar-denominated financial instruments like U.S. Treasuries.
Oil consumption in the U.S. fell by 7.1 percent over the last four weeks in contrast to last year during the same time. Use is now at about 19 million barrels a day in the U.S.
Crude had dropped as low as $87.56 a barrel in the afternoon, while settling at $87.80 for November delivery of light sweet crude. That was a fall of $6.07 for the day.
Brent North Sea crude also fell significantly, settling at $83.68 a barrel for November delivery, dropping $6.57 for the session.
The lagging participation of the European economy in the economic downturn is now over, and what has happened in the U.S. is now emerging in Europe. That has also caused the U.S. dollar to strengthen significantly against the euro, while also causing gold to be held back for now as a safe haven.
For oil, the new world of bailouts and economic fears leaves it in a place of probable continued decline in price as demand slows around the globe. India and China demand will slow as well, with China now exporting some gasoline because of slow domestic demand.
As far as the U.S. bailout by the government, it didn't do much to placate investors, as they have started to pour their money into short-term dollar-denominated financial instruments like U.S. Treasuries.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Oil Joins Other Commodities in Steep Losses
After dropping by $4.56 yesterday, oil futures continued to plunge in after-hours trading, falling another 1.2 percent to as low as $92.81 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Other commodities have been struggling as well, as the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities was down to its lowest level in close to a year, with corn, copper and silver especially losing; all of them in their worst weekly drop in over 20 years.
For the week oil is down 13 percent, as concerns of demand continuing to fall because of fears about the poor economic conditions. The report by the Labor Department showed jobless claims for the week ending September 27 are their highest since September 2001,
Since the high of $147.27 on July 11, oil has fallen by 37 percent.
The use of fuel in the U.S. also fell to its lowest level since October 2001, averaging only 19 million barrels a day.
With the economic news seemingly getting worse by the day, there are an increasing number of people questioning the validity of spending $700 billion on a bailout that probably will make no difference at all, and in will all likelihood make the problems last longer than if we would just let it work its way through the market.
As far as gasoline prices, we're seeing them drop, but they're lagging behind the decline in oil prices as it's taking a little time for refineries to get back on line. Once that happens we should see gas prices start to mirror more closely the oil price drops.
Other commodities have been struggling as well, as the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities was down to its lowest level in close to a year, with corn, copper and silver especially losing; all of them in their worst weekly drop in over 20 years.
For the week oil is down 13 percent, as concerns of demand continuing to fall because of fears about the poor economic conditions. The report by the Labor Department showed jobless claims for the week ending September 27 are their highest since September 2001,
Since the high of $147.27 on July 11, oil has fallen by 37 percent.
The use of fuel in the U.S. also fell to its lowest level since October 2001, averaging only 19 million barrels a day.
With the economic news seemingly getting worse by the day, there are an increasing number of people questioning the validity of spending $700 billion on a bailout that probably will make no difference at all, and in will all likelihood make the problems last longer than if we would just let it work its way through the market.
As far as gasoline prices, we're seeing them drop, but they're lagging behind the decline in oil prices as it's taking a little time for refineries to get back on line. Once that happens we should see gas prices start to mirror more closely the oil price drops.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Oil Prices Continue to Drop as U.S. Demand Slackens
While the price of oil fluctuated significantly today, by the end of the day it settled more toward the lower end, ending at $98.53 for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Prices continue to influence the amount Americans are willing to drive, affecting the overall demand.
Prices for the day went from a low of $95.95 a barrel to as high as $102.84.
For the week ending September 26, crude stock rose 1.5 percent by 4.3 million barrels, reaching 294.5 million barrels overall. That was close to three times what some analysts expected.
As far as gasoline inventories go, they rose to 900,000 barrels to 179.6 million barrels. Analysts were looking for a drop of 1 million to 3 million barrels.
Much of the discrepancy comes from the quick turnaround of U.S. refineries after the hurricane damage, along with the decreasing amount of miles consumers are traveling.
On the ICE Futures exchange in London, delivery for Novemeber Brent crude dropped by $2.84 to settle at $95.33 a barrel.
Prices for the day went from a low of $95.95 a barrel to as high as $102.84.
For the week ending September 26, crude stock rose 1.5 percent by 4.3 million barrels, reaching 294.5 million barrels overall. That was close to three times what some analysts expected.
As far as gasoline inventories go, they rose to 900,000 barrels to 179.6 million barrels. Analysts were looking for a drop of 1 million to 3 million barrels.
Much of the discrepancy comes from the quick turnaround of U.S. refineries after the hurricane damage, along with the decreasing amount of miles consumers are traveling.
On the ICE Futures exchange in London, delivery for Novemeber Brent crude dropped by $2.84 to settle at $95.33 a barrel.
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