by Calculated Risk on 11/27/2014 12:48:00 PM
Thursday, November 27, 2014
WTI Crude Oil Falls Below $70
From the WSJ: OPEC Leaves Production Target Unchanged
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said its 12 members, who collectively pump around one-third of the world’s oil, would comply with its current production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day. That would involve a supply cut of around 300,000 barrels a day based on the cartel’s output in October, according to the group’s own data.Click on graph for larger image
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The oil producer group’s decision led to a further sharp selloff in major global oil benchmarks, with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Brent crude fell about 6% to below $73, a four-year low, while the West Texas Intermediate benchmark was down 3.2% to $71.36 a barrel.
This graph shows WTI and Brent spot oil prices from the EIA. (Prices today added).
According to Bloomberg, WTI has fallen over 4% today to $69.40 per barrel, and Brent to $72.97.
Prices are off over 35% from the peak for the year, and if this price decline holds, there should be further declines in gasoline prices over the next couple of weeks. Gasoline futures are down about 10 cents per gallon.
Below is a graph from Gasbuddy.com for nationwide gasoline prices. Nationally prices are around $2.80 per gallon (down about 45 cents from a year ago). If you click on "show crude oil prices", the graph displays oil prices for WTI, not Brent; gasoline prices in most of the U.S. are impacted more by Brent prices.
Orange County Historical Gas Price Charts Provided by GasBuddy.com |