By Myra P. Saefong and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch. WTI oil futures gain nearly 13% for the week. Oil futures settled lower Friday, with U.S. prices breaking the longest winning streak in more than a year over worries about China growth and fresh friction between Washington and Beijing.
In a sign that oil markets are returning to relative normality, the once yawning gap between the price of an actual physical barrel of oil and futures prices has narrowed sharply. At its worst in April, a barrel of oil in the North Sea cost $10 less than the price on a Brent oil futures contract, a decade-high gap for the world's benchmark oil price, according to S&P Global Platts. Now, the gap has shrunk to less than $2 a barrel as the oil market rebalances and traders are no longer in panic...
China's commodities markets fell after it said it would drop its annual growth target and impose national security laws in Hong Kong at this year's meeting of parliament. Most metals, agriculture and energy contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange closed lower on Friday.
Oil prices were set to break the longest winning streak since February on Friday amid geopolitical tensions, including worries about for fresh friction between China and Hong Kong. July West Texas Intermediate oil dropped $1.90, or 5.6%, to $32.03 a barrel. On Thursday, the contract rose 1.3% to settle at $33.91, which was the highest since March 10, based on the front-month contracts, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Oil prices fell on Friday after China failed to set an economic growth target for 2020, sparking concerns that the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will cap fuel demand in the world's second-largest oil user.
Oil prices climbed Thursday, advancing for the sixth consecutive session with producers curtailing output in response to ultralow crude prices and the coronavirus crisis. U.S. crude futures for delivery in July rose 1.3% to $33.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending a recent recovery. Crude futures collapsed last month, sending front-month futures below $0 for the first time ever due to an overwhelming glut and lack of available storage for excess oil.
Oil futures ended higher on Thursday, with U.S. prices holding ground at their highest in about 10 weeks. Global declines in crude production along with expectations for a gradual recovery in demand continued to provide support for prices, but renewed U.S.-China trade tensions pulled prices away from the session's highs, analysts said. July West Texas Intermediate oil rose 43 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $33.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
By Myra P. Saefong and Mark DeCambre, MarketWatch. So far this month, WTI has climbed 80%, while Brent oil has rallied by nearly 43%. Oil futures ended higher on Thursday, adding to recent gains that have pushed both the international and the U.S. benchmark contracts to around 2 1/ 2 month highs, as a slowdown in supplies and hope for higher demand help prices recover some of their recent losses.
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