Oil futures ended lower on Friday, but tallied a gain of almost 6% for the week, the largest such rise in three months. As the Saudis reveal the extent of damages from the attacks on oil facilities last weekend, "the market mood has shifted to questioning how quickly production can be restored," Manish Raj, chief financial officer at exploration and production firm Velandera Energy Partners, told MarketWatch. "We are familiar with the repair and maintenance processes in oilfield...
By William Watts and Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch. For the week, WTI oil up over 6%, Brent gains closer to 7%. Oil futures finished lower on Friday, but registered a sharp gain for the week, their largest in months, after attacks on Saudi Arabian production facilities last weekend raised concerns over the amount of spare capacity in the oil market.
Global oil prices are on track for their best week of the year as investors remain uneasy about supply disruptions following attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were virtually flat on Friday, putting them in line for a 7% gain this week-- the largest one-week jump this year. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. standard, were up 0.3% at $58.33 a barrel and poised for a 6.3% weekly advance, its biggest jump since June.
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a fifth week in a row to the lowest since May 2017, even as crude prices jumped more than 7% this week after an attack halved output in the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
Oil prices eased on Friday on renewed concern over the U.S.-China trade war, but futures still posted weekly gains, with Brent marking its biggest weekly increase since January, after an attack on Saudi Arabia's energy industry last weekend.
Natural-gas prices have recovered from their summer swoon, but analysts and investors are skeptical that the gains will last, particularly after the weekend attacks on Saudi oil facilities. The concern is that increased drilling in such places as West Texas and North Dakota by producers hoping to capitalize on higher prices for crude and propane could pump a lot of extra gas into an already-flooded market. A decline in gas prices would be welcomed by U.S. factory owners, power...
* Replaces light crude with medium, heavy grades. * Complex refineries in Asia able to adapt quickly. By Florence Tan, Jessica Jaganathan and Jane Chung. State oil giant Saudi Aramco has switched crude grades and pushed back crude and oil products deliveries to customers by days after the attacks on its supply hub severely reduced its light oil production and led to output cuts at its refineries.
* Chartbook: https://tmsnrt.rs/31uXMgF. Brent oil futures prices have gyrated wildly as traders have tried to assess the impact of last week's attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure on the actual availability of crude.
Oil prices rose Thursday, highlighting fresh signs of pressure on Saudi Arabian output after weekend attacks on one of the kingdom's largest oil facilities. Brent crude, the global gauge of prices, rose 1.3% to end the day at $64.40 a barrel. Both Brent and U.S. crude prices climbed earlier in the day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia is reaching out to foreign producers to import crude and other petroleum products.
News, commentary and research reports are from third-party sources unaffiliated with Fidelity. Fidelity does not endorse or adopt their content. Fidelity makes no guarantees that information supplied is accurate, complete, or timely, and does not provide any warranties regarding results obtained from their use.
PDF’s require Adobe® Reader® and will open in a new window.
