Oil prices didn’t do much during last week after they had sharply inclined in the first week of the year. From the supply side, there are still growing concerns of the rising tension between Iran and the West but it has yet to reflect in the oil prices. From the demand side, the slowdown in the EU may have been among the factors in curbing the rally of oil prices. What is up ahead for oil markets in the third week of January? Let’s analyze the oil market and the main news items and events that may affect oil.
For the complete outlook of the oil market for the week of January 16-20 see here in Trading NRG
On Friday, January 13th oil price (WTI) slightly declined by 0.40% to $98.70/b; Brent also slipped by 0.15% to $110.87/b; during last week, WTI decreased by 2.82% and Brent by 1.94%.
The chart below shows the development of WTI and Brent during January (prices are normalized to December 30th). It s
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Petrol prices are due to increase again after a barely falling, the Automobile Association (AA) has revealed.
According to the latest fuel cost report by the AA, the average UK petrol price has crept up by a penny in the past week to 136.07p a litre. This comes after an average decline of a penny-a-litre during the four weeks leading to the middle of June.
The Motorists’ Association said that drivers are losing out because rising oil prices are feeding through into the pump price much faster than falling prices are.
In the four weeks to mid-June, the average fuel price fell by 0.86p although oil price fell further and more quickly, leaving car and van drivers short-changed by at least by 2p per litre over the period.
AA president Edmund King said:
“The cost of fuel is top of drivers’ concerns. The n
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A weak construction environment is keeping prices for domestically priced construction materials stable to slightly lower but this is being more than offset by continuing gains in internationally priced commodities used in construction materials. The commodity price surge is coming from the resumption of economic growth in most industrial countries and the return to very rapid economic growth in developing countries.
US commodity prices are also being pushed up by a new round of speculative investment in commodities and by a depreciating $US, down 6% in the last six months. Currency depreciation has an immediate impact on oil prices. Congressional action this week on a new $300 B plus stimulus program will raise the federal deficit and add further downward pressure on the value of the $US.
By next spring the commodity price surge should be tempered by anti-inflation programs to slow economic growth in developing countries and austerity programs to reduce budget deficits in industrial countries, especially in Europe. Read more…
