Crude ends higher

Natural gas prices tumble down

Crude prices remained volatile on Thursday, 20 August, 2009 but ultimately ended higher. Prices rose due to mixed batch of economic data.

On Thursday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for September delivery closed at $72.54/barrel (higher by $0.12 or 0.16%). The September crude contract expired today. Last week, crude ended lower by 4.8%.

For the month of July, 2009, crude ended lower by a marginal 0.6%. For the second quarter, crude ended higher by 40%. Crude prices had rallied 11.3% in the first quarter of 2009.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported on Thursday, 21 August, 2009 that manufacturing firms in the Philadelphia region improved in August, the first increase in nearly a year. The Philly Fed index rose to 4.2 in August from negative 7.5 in July. It was the highest reading since November 2007 and the first positive reading since September 2008.

In a separate report, The Labor Department in US reported on Thursday, 21 August, 2009 that first-time filings for state unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 576,000 last week, marking the highest level in initial claims since 25 July, 2009. Both initial claims and continuing claims ticked up in the latest readings, indicating that it's still very tough to find or keep a job.

Oil prices had reached a high of $147 on 11 July, 2008 but have dropped almost 50% since then. Year to date, in 2009, crude prices are higher by 49%.

The Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that crude stocks fell by 8.4 million barrels to 343.6 million barrels during the week ended 14 Aug, 2009. Market was expecting a build up to the tune of 1.5 million barrels. The EIA also reported that motor gasoline inventories fell by 2.1 million barrels and distillate stocks decreased by 700,000 barrels.

Also at the Nymex on Thursday, September reformulated gasoline fell 5.24 cents, or 2.6%, to end at $1.9822 a gallon and September heating oil dropped 3.35 cents, or 1.7%, to finish at $1.8852 a gallon.

Natural gas for September delivery dropped 17.40 cents, or 5.6%, to end at $2.945 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. EIA reported today that working gas in storage rose 52 billion cubic feet to stand at 3,204 Bcf during the week ended 14 August. At current levels, stocks were 562 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 513 Bcf above the 5-year average.

Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

At the MCX, crude oil for September delivery closed lower by Rs 31 (0.86%) at Rs 3,564/barrel. Natural gas for September delivery closed lower by Rs 6.8 (3.9%) at Rs 165.3/mmbtu.