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| - Despite the promises of lower output from other countries, no evidence of changes was seen. U.S. output was higher. Also, China's economic problems caused concern. Brent fell 3% in the second week of the year to $55.45. WTI fell to $52.37 for a nearly 3% loss. On January 18, with a strong dollar and expectations of higher U.S. production, Brent fell to $53.92 and WTI to $51.08. With U.S. production and inventories up, even a lower dollar and decreased production by OPEC nations did not cause oil prices to rise as much as they could have. WTI reached $53.07 and Brent $55.44 on January 26. On February 8, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the second-largest increase in oil supplies, the day after WTI reached $52.17 and Brent reached $55.05, the lowest in three weeks for both, thanks to a strong dollar. Still, prices moved higher on February 8. With the increase in U.S. supplies and OPEC's plan to keep cutting production, oil ended the next week down, with WTI at $53.40 and Brent crude at $55.81. On February 22, Qatar oil minister Mohammed Saleh Al Sada said countries not in OPEC were not cutting production as much as expected, and oil fell as a result. Continued increases in U.S. crude inventories also contributed to a decline, with WTI at $53.59 and Brent at $55.76. After U.S. inventories reached a record at the end of February, oil fell for three straight days and closed at its lowest level in nearly a month, with WTI at $52.61 and Brent at $55.08. Oil continued to fall, with Brent crude reaching $51.50, the lowest since November 30, on March 9, a day after a 5% drop, the most it had moved in a day all year. WTI fell more than 5% March 8 and closed at $49.28 the next day, the lowest since November. WTI fell to $47.36 on March 14, while Brent crude reached $50.25, before lower inventories resulted in higher prices. Crude inventories set a record but gasoline inventories went down more than expected and summer gasoline demand was expected to increase, so while WTI fell to just over $47 on March 22, it finished the day at $48.04. Brent crude fell below $50 but recovered to $50.64. On March 30 with Kuwait's support for continuing OPEC production cuts, U.S. crude rose above $50 for the first time in three weeks, with Brent crude reached $52.92. Despite high U.S. crude inventories while gasoline inventories moved lower, prices continued to rise, reaching their highest point since March 8 on April 6, with WTI reaching $51.70 and Brent crude $54.89. After Saudi Arabia announced plans to continue lower production beyond the first half of 2017, on April 12, WTI reached $53.36 and Brent crude reached $56.40. On April 14, gas was $2.41, up 33 cents from a year earlier. On April 19, oil fell 3.8% with the news of an unexpected increase in U.S. gasoline supplies and the news that U.S. crude supplies fell less than they should have with production at its highest since August 2015. WTI still remained above $50 while Brent crude closed just under $53. On April 24, WTI fell below $50 and Brent crude closed at $51.60 due to doubts about OPEC extending production cuts and a statement by Russia that it would increase production. Despite plans to extend production cuts, on May 4, oil fell to its lowest level since November, with WTI falling to $45.52 and Brent crude reaching $48.26. But with the news that Saudi supplies to Asia were less than expected, and with U.S. inventories down the most since December, and despite higher production from non-OPEC nations reducing demand for OPEC oil, Brent crude finished at $50.72 on May 11 and U.S. light crude rose more than 1% to $47.83. With expectations production cuts would continue, Brent crude was up for the second week and WTI finished May 18 at $49.35, its highest close since April 26. On May 25, all countries agreed to continue cuts but Brent crude still fell 4%. And despite a sharp drop in U.S. inventories, oil fell another 1% on June 2, with Brent crude reaching $50.25 and WTI down to $47.91. By June 9, Brent crude was at $47.67, down 12% from May 25, and WTI was at $45.44, down 11%, with limits on production not having the expected effect as supplies continued to rise. OPEC actually increased production and on June 14, Brent crude fell to $48.25 and WTI to $45.94. Excessive worldwide supplies and high U.S. production led to the fourth straight down week as Brent crude finished June 16 at $47.37 and WTI rose to $44.74, a day after oil reached its lowest level in six months. Prices rose slightly with news that although American producers added rigs for a record 22 weeks, the rate of increase was slowing, and that some countries were starting to export less. With production increasing in Nigeria and Libya, even though U.S. supplies of oil and gasoline were down, Brent crude rose slightly to $44.91 after reaching its lowest point since November, and WTI reached $42.53, its lowest since August, on June 21. With U.S. inventories again continuing to increase and gasoline supplies up despite increased demand, Brent crude fell to $46.32 and WTI reached $43.86 on June 28. After eight days of gains due to an expected end in a rise in U.S. production, Brent crude fell to $49.43 and WTI to $46.85 on July 4. On July 7, even though U.S. oil and gasoline inventories fell late in June, with both OPEC and U.S. production up, Brent crude fell to $47.53 and WTI to $44.95. The next week, Brent crude rose 3.5% to $48.24 and WTI 4% to $45.98 as U.S. inventories continued to fall and U.S. production forecasts were cut, though oil inventories were still high, reducing gains from earlier in the week; Sanford C. Bernstein speculated OPEC nations may not have made the cuts intended. On July 31, Brent crude reached $52.93, its highest point since May. With record demand reported in the United States and lower inventories along with good news on U.S. jobs but continued high production from OPEC nations, on August 4, WTI ended the week at $49.58 and Brent crude reached $52.42 after almost reaching a 10-week high earlier in the week. Both were down less than 1% for the week. Oil reached its highest level in two and a half months on August 9 but OPEC and exempt nations Nigeria and Libya reported increased output, and oil fell 1.5%, with WTI back below $50 at $48.62 and Brent crude at $51.91 early the next day. Oil fell 2.5%, more than expected, on August 14. Early the next day WTI was $47.65 and Brent crude was $50.79, both up slightly. Lower production by Libya and China were reported, and a stronger dollar resulted from North Korea delaying a decision to fire a missile toward Guam. On August 23, oil fell slightly due to higher Libya output, while U.S. gasoline supplies higher than expected even though crude inventories fell, with WTI at $47.63 and Brent crude at $51.61. However, Hurricane Harvey led to higher gas prices and to a reduction of nearly 25% in refinery capacity and 15% in U.S. production. Brent crude fell slightly to $50.93 on August 29, but the difference between Brent and U.S. CLc1 reached the highest level in over two years before declining to $4.92. While Harvey has had little effect on crude prices, the price of gas reached $2.59 on September 2, up 17.5 cents since August 23 and 16.7% higher than 2016, with more dramatic increases in states dependent on the Colonial Pipeline, which closed until inspection was complete.As of September 11, the price of gas was $2.67. Brent crude rose 40% from June to October as oil producers were expected to continue lower production, with an increase of 20% in the third quarter, the most for the quarter since 2004, and reaching $59.49 during the final week of September. The increase that week resulted from a threat by Turkey to close a pipeline as a result of the Kurdistan vote for independence. Turkey did not act and oil fell 6% to $56.00 (including a 2.5% drop on October 1) as a result of investors taking advantage of higher prices and forecasts for increased U.S. tight oil (shale oil) production. U.S. CLc1 fell only slightly to $50.42. On October 12, with U.S. supplies up, WTI was $51.01 and Brent crude $56.65. After four days of higher prices, oil dropped significantly October 19 and rose slightly the next day, with WTI reaching $51.41 and Brent at $57.31. U.S. oil inventories were down 15% since March and lower than in 2016 due to higher exports resulting from WTI being significantly lower than Brent. However, threats to oil supplies due to fighting in Kurdistan were less than feared. On November 1, WTI reached the highest level since 2015 before settling at $54.30. The next week, WTI reached $57.92, highest since July 2015, and Brent crude $64.65, highest since June 2015. Demand was high, and OPEC cuts and "rising political tensions" were other reasons. On November 24, WTI reached $59.05, the highest in two years, due to the Keystone Pipeline closing, and optimism about the OPEC deal extension. Gas was $2.52. On November 27, U.S. CLc1 fell 1.4%, finishing the next day at $57.99, with Brent crude at $63.61. Crude supplies had risen the previous week after forecasts for an increase. There was concern about a November 30 meeting to extend OPEC production cuts, while Russia was expected to increase production. A strong dollar caused prices to fall slightly December 8, with WTI at $56.64 and Brent crude at $62.09. With an outage on the Forties crude pipeline in Great Britain, prices were staying high. Oil fell slightly on December 11 with WTI at $57.10 and Brent crude $63.08 as U.S. production reached levels not seen since the 1970s and the number of rigs continued to increase. During the last week of 2017, WTI went over $60 for the first time since June 2015 before falling back to $59.69, while Brent crude passed $67 for the first time since May 2015 before falling to $66.50. Pipeline problems in Libya and the North Sea added to production cuts by OPEC and Russia. (en)
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