Middle East conflict

Peak oil notes – May 16

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A mid-week update. While oil prices are little changed this week, there has been considerable news concerning the energy markets. Bad economic reports from Europe, the US, and China have helped keep pressure on the markets and raised fears of lower demand for oil in the months ahead. The worse-than-expected economic news, however, pushed the S and P to a new high Wednesday on the hope that Federal Reserve will continue quantitative easing. The increase in equities helped oil prices to recover from losses earlier in the week. At the close, NY oil was $94.30 a barrel while London had climbed to $103.68 thereby widening the WTI-London spread to $9.38 from Monday’s close of $7.65.

Peak oil notes – April 26

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A midweek update. New York oil prices, continuing a modest recovery after their mid-month 10% decline, advanced another 3% this week. NYMEX prices rose Monday, were flat Tuesday, then on Wednesday closed up $2—the largest advance this year—at $91.43. The move up was sparked by a weekly government report showing that oil stockpiles rose less than anticipated while gasoline demand unexpectedly jumped by over 4% to a six-month high. Still, US crude oil in storage isn’t far off its recent 23-year high, thanks to rising domestic production and sluggish economic signals.

Peak oil notes – Mar 21

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A mid-week update…Oil prices plunged on Tuesday and then rebounded on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep buying bonds at a steady pace; US crude stockpiles unexpectedly dropped; and the EU put off a decision on a Cyprus bailout.