Phil Flynn News

Oil prices jumped 2% on Friday after three days of losses, driven higher as a storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico, but were on track for a weekly fall as investors braced for the return of Iranian crude supplies after officials said Iran and world powers made progress a nuclear deal.Brent crude futures rose $1.33, or 2%, to $66.36 a barrel by 1:06 p.m. ET (1606 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $63.54 a barrel, up $1.61, or 2.6%.A weather system forming over the western Gulf of Mexico has a 40% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S.

Oil prices jumped about 6% on Wednesday after a ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, and worries that the incident could tie up crude shipments gave prices a boost after a slide over the last week.The crude benchmarks, U.S. crude and London-based Brent, added to gains after U.S. inventory figures showed a further rebound in refining activity, suggesting U.S. refiners are mostly recovered from the cold snap that slammed Texas in February.Brent crude settled at $64.41 a barrel, gaining $3.62, or 6%, after tumbling 5.9% the previous day.

U.S. crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on Monday for the first time in history, amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut, ending the day at a stunning minus $37.63 a barrel as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil.Brent crude, the international benchmark, also slumped, but that contract was nowhere near as weak because more storage is available worldwide.While U.S. oil prices are trading in negative territory for the first time ever, it is unclear whether that will trickle down to consumers…

U.S. crude oil stocks unexpectedly rose last week, while gasoline and distillate product inventories dropped, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Crude inventories were up 614,000 barrels in the week to Dec. 23, compared with expectations for a decrease of 2.1 million barrels. Oil prices were little changed on the news after a bit of volatility immediately following the release. U.S. crude oil futures were up 1 cent to $54.08 a barrel at 11:38 a.m. EST (1638 GMT), leaving the benchmark just shy of the year high of $54.51 reached on Dec. 12. "What seems to be giving this report kind of a bullish tilt is the fact that we saw pretty a good drawdown in both gasoline and distillate inventories," said Phil Flynn, trader at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Oil jumped 1.7 percent Tuesday, continuing its year-end rally with support from expectations of tighter supply once the first output cut deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in 15 years takes effect on Sunday. U.S. crude prices have surged 25 percent since mid-November, helped by expectations for OPEC's supply cut and generally solid U.S. economic figures that have also bolstered equity prices. Trading was thin on Tuesday, with less than one-third of the usual volume in futures contracts in West Texas Intermediate crude oil. With oil near $54 a barrel, U.S. crude futures are not far from the year's high of $54.51 high reached on December 12. "Some of the doubts (in OPEC) people are showing are going to have to be put to rest," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Oil rose on Tuesday to above $31 a barrel on hopes that OPEC and non-OPEC producers were inching closer to a deal to reduce output in the face of one of the biggest supply gluts in decades. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is making renewed calls for rival producers to cut supply alongside its members, but Russia, seen as key to any deal, has so far refused to cooperate. Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said on Tuesday he saw "some flexibility" for a deal, an idea has been repeatedly mooted and dismissed for over a year. Brent crude was up $1.02 at $31.52 a barrel by 11:05 a.m. EST (1605 GMT), rebounding from a decline earlier in the session. On Jan. 20, Brent reached as low as $27.10, its lowest since November 2003. U.S.

Oil prices fell Friday, tumbling as the dollar strengthened and as a supply glut in top consumer, the United States, trumped worries about falling production from Libya. The market had come under pressure from Wednesday's Energy Department report, which showed a 7.3 million-barrel rise in crude inventories to their highest December level on record. Analysts had expected a seasonal decline. The slide was exacerbated as oil prices reacted to a strengthening dollar index. "There's still significant weakness in confidence, and that means that we're going to have occasional retests to the downside," said Richard Hastings of Global Hunter Securities. The strenghtening dollar index triggered the slide on Friday, he said.

Global oil markets fell again on Wednesday in holiday-thin trade, extending more than a week of see-saw volatility as traders jousted over whether a growing supply glut had been fully priced in. Oil whipped lower early in the day and tested new lows after U.S. data showed crude inventories unexpectedly rose by 7.3 million barrels last week to their highest December level on record. Analysts had expected a seasonal draw. "It's a Christmas flood of oil at a time when refiners and producers usually are letting inventories get lower for end-of-year tax reasons," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. U.S. crude's front-month contract fell $1.28 to settle at $55.84 a barrel at 1:30 p.m.

U.S. crude oil closed at its lowest since July 2009 on Friday as Brent averaged below $70 a barrel in the week for the first time since 2010, as strong U.S. employment data did little to lift the oil market's bearish mood. Both contracts continued to slide as the market grappled with oversupply resulting from the U.S. shale boom and the recent decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut production. Prices increased from lows earlier in the day after stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data. November nonfarm payrolls rose 321,000, the most since January 2012. Still, the market remained lackluster and subdued, traders said.

World oil prices resumed a months-long rout on Tuesday to close at their lowest in more than two years, pressured by reduced economic and demand growth forecasts. U.S. crude oil prices fell faster than European Brent, reversing a weeks-long compression in the Brent/WTI spread amid signs that U.S. refiners are starting to buy cut-priced West African or Mediterranean crudes, re-opening a once common arbitrage. The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecasts for the third time this year, warning of weaker growth in core euro zone countries, Japan and Brazil. And German industrial output fell in August at its steepest rate since January 2009. "The IMF forecast is weighing on (demand) sentiment," said Phil Flynn, an analyst for the Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Crude oil futures fell on Friday and ended the week more than 2 percent lower as disappointing jobs data from the United States cast doubt about the strength of economic growth in the world's biggest oil-consuming economy. U.S. jobs figures showed nonfarm payrolls increased by just 142,000 in August, well below forecasts of 225,000 and the smallest rise eight months. "U.S. economic growth was supposed to counter the slowing in China and Europe and the payrolls report threw a little cold water on that idea," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. Brent crude for October delivery fell $1.01 to settle at $100.82 a barrel, having dropped to $100.35 intraday. The last time Brent was priced under $100 was in June 2013. U.S.