Posted on 12/11/2014 1:00:04 PM PST by YankeeReb
NEW YORK (AP) The price of oil took another dive Wednesday, plunging to five-year lows amid mounting evidence that global supplies are far outstripping demand.
The U.S. Energy Department reported a surprise increase in domestic oil inventories and OPEC projected that demand for its crude would sink next year to levels not seen in more than a decade.
Benchmark U.S. crude slumped 4.5 percent, or $2.88, to close at $60.94 a barrel on Wednesday. Prices have not been that low since July of 2009. U.S crude prices have fallen 17 percent in two weeks and are now 43 percent below the $107.26 that a barrel fetched at its peak this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ping.
Crude Oil Jan 15 (CLF15.NYM)
-NY Mercantile
59.89 Down 1.05(1.72%) 3:32PM EST
Open Interest: N/A
Session:
Exp. Date: N/A
Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. Currency in USD.
(MarketWatch) Oils stunning price collapse is undoubtedly one of 2014s top stories and will remain a major theme for investors in 2015.
Indeed, oil futures have plunged 39% from the beginning of the year, including carnage in Thursday trading that saw oil settle below $60, at $59.95, marking its lowest settlement price since July 14, 2009, while Brent is down about 42% for the year
Key points:
OPEC said Wednesday that it expects demand for its crude to fall to 28.9 million barrels per day next year, 400,000 barrels per day less than in 2014. The cartel’s official production target is 30 million barrels a day, which would mean far more oil on the world market than is being consumed.
Also on Wednesday, the Energy Department reported a surprise increase in U.S. crude supplies of 1.5 million barrels last week. Analysts were expecting a decline of 2.2 million barrels.
- - - - - -
OPEC as an organization recognizes their current problem is going to get worse without action. And US production is going to make that ever more worse, before we begin to slow down.
$59.88/bbl for WTI 1/15/15 delivery at 3:29 pm EST today.
RBOB gas at refinery is $1.63/gallon at 3:29 pm EST today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/futures/
With several new cars getting 35 mpg, the consumption of gasoline is heading down and so is the price of oil. If you’re invested in solar or wind power, you are toast.
This is ALL about the Saudi’s trying to bankrupt ISIS...
How many BILLION$$$ have the Saudi’s made by SHORTING Oil Prices???
They have dropped over 41% in less than 6 months.
Norway is already in a panic over the price of oil.
The entire Welfare state is financed by oil revenues.
They just cut their interest rate by a quarter, to 1.25%.
Norways Shock Rate Cut Drives Krone to Lowest Since 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-11/norway-surprises-with-rate-cut-as-oil-slump-weighs-correct-.html
Oil isn't really used to make electricity. They are separate markets.
“They have dropped over 41% in less than 6 months”
At this rate, the only people who will driving a Prius, or Volt, will be those that suck at math...
Statoil, their largest oil company, has taken some large hits compounding the oil price loss of revenue.
Statoil Defers Decision on $5.7B Oil Recovery Project
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3232581/posts
Statoil Scuttles Ultra-deepwater Rig Contract; Pays $350mm To Back Away
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3229630/posts
If the strategic petroleum reserve isn’t full we should be buying oil for storage. We can also buy oil and store it in rail tankers.
thackey;
You have the best graphs for oil production. Do you have one for Saudi production over the past decade or so?
Last time I checked SPR was at 95%.
Not sure what the true “maximum” number is.
As for rail cars, they’re on shortage with a big production backlog so I don’t expect many to be sitting around as storage vessels.
How many days of OPEC imports do you think the SPR should hold?
We can also buy oil and store it in rail tankers.
You haven't tried to rent a rail tanker lately. The back order for more is up to a couple years I believe.
The WTI crude price is less than $60 at the time of this comment. I don’t see a whole lot of bluffing coming from the producers with high costs now, but the price may go quite a bit lower anyway.
I watch a lot of CNBC, FoxBiz, and Bloomberg during the day in my shop. I don’t think I’ve seen ANYBODY earlier this year even hinting at the oil price collapse.
As a matter of fact, after the first month of decline I saw quite a few pundits predicting a December rebound.
It seems to be “unexpected” for everybody.
This has truly reached the point of irrational reactive panic. Oil is down again today on the VERY same news it was down on just yesterday?
Truly insane. Time to buy oil and service stocks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.