Commodities

March 26 2013 9:59 AM

The oil complex was able to hold onto gains even as the Cyprus relief rally the sent most risk asset market higher early in the session did not last very long. Equities and many risk asset markets ended Monday's session in negative territory as market participants once again started to be concerned that the conditions of the Cyprus deal could be the new standard for future bailout deals in Europe. The macroeconomic front was mostly quiet yesterday with traders and investors moving their focus slowly away from Cyprus and toward the value drivers that have been in play… especially the state of the global economy.

March 25 2013 8:14 AM

WTI was once again the strongest oil commodity in the complex on Friday with the Brent/WTI spread narrowing to the lowest level since July of 2012 based on the spot continuation chart. The combination of crude oil production running at normal to even above normal levels in the North Sea and Cushing crude oil stocks continuing in a destocking pattern have been the main reasons why the spread has narrowed for the last six weeks in a row.

March 22 2013 12:52 PM

Cyprus is preparing for total financial collapse as the European Central Bank turns its back on the island after its parliament rejected a scheme to make Cypriot citizens pay a levy on savings deposits in return for a share in potential gas futures to fund a bailout. On Wednesday, the Greek-Cypriot government voted against asking its citizens to bank on the future of gas exports by paying a 3-15% levy on bank deposits in return for a stake in potential gas sales. The scheme would have partly funded a $13 billion EU bailout.

March 22 2013 8:30 AM

Oil lost its bid on Thursday after negative energy sensitive manufacturing data from Europe offset the marginally positive gain in the manufacturing index from China. Even Germany... the main growth engine in Europe dropped into the contraction mode with its PMI falling below the 50 threshold. Europe seems to be falling deeper into recession while the US continues to grow... but only slowly. The PMI data released yesterday for the US increased marginally.

March 21 2013 10:17 AM

The oil complex gained ground across the board on Wednesday on a combination of a supportive weekly oil inventory snapshot along with a mild up move in equities ( and lower US dollar) supported by the US Central Bank FOMC concluding their monthly meeting with no change in their ultra accommodative monetary policy for the near future. Both the external price drivers as well as the fundamentals supported yesterday's move to the upside. Overnight oil prices are drifting lower even as China's manufacturing sector continued to expand. However, the flash PMI data for the euro zone declined again for the month of March while Germany's manufacturing index surprisingly dropped below the expansion threshold level and into to the contraction zone.

March 20 2013 12:02 PM

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell for the first time in nine weeks, though supplies remain "well-above the upper limit of the average range" for this time of year, according to the Energy Information Administration. Nationwide crude supplies, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, totaled 382.7 million barrels during the week ended March 15, down 0.3% from the previous week, the administration said March 20 in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

March 19 2013 8:33 AM

Brent crude oil traded steadily below $109 as Cypriot leaders prepared to meet and discuss the controversial terms of their forthcoming bailout. The commodity traded at $108.91 at 11:46 GMT on Tuesday morning after eurozone leaders agreed to give lawmakers in Cyprus more control over the implementation of the levy.

March 18 2013 8:35 AM

The Nat Gas market blew through two resistance areas last week after yet another bullish weekly EIA inventory report. Colder than normal temperatures have continued to result in an atypical high level of Nat Gas heating related demand. With colder than normal temperatures forecast for the eastern two-thirds of the US through the end of March there is still going to be atypical net withdrawals from inventory through the aforementioned time period. This is going to result in the deficit versus last year continuing to grow through March while the surplus versus the five year average will continue to narrow (see EIA projections for winter ending inventory levels).

March 15 2013 7:55 AM

Brent crude oil ticked up on Friday morning and traded at 109.28 after data from the US pointed to a better global demand outlook and the threat of supply interruption in the Middle East lent support to the commodity. The US released strong jobs data which added to mounting evidence that the nation was well on its way to a steady recovery. Unemployment benefit claims in the US dropped for the third week in a row, a sure sign that the economy was on the mend.