Crude oil fell on Tuesday, snapping four days of gains, on concern a U.S. government report will show stockpiles climbed from the highest level since September 1990. Crude oil for June delivery declined as much as 77 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $53.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil is up 21 per cent this year.
Oil prices vaulted 9 per cent in NY Thursday, in tandem with a powerful stocks rally, as investors cheered G20 agreements to combat the global downturn and an easing of US accounting rules. On Friday, oil prices settled above $52 a barrel, slightly lower on the day after a report that US unemployment in March soared to a 25-year high. But optimism that the economy will soon turn around curtailed losses.
The market in Toronto jumped significantly, in part due to the merger announcement between Suncorp (TSE:SU) and Petro-Canada (TSE:PCA). Petro-Canada was up 20 per cent at the end of the day and many of the other Canadian oil patch companies rose along with it. EnCana (TSE:ECA), Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) and Talisman Energy (TSE:TLM) all closed up significantly.
The jump was all too clear. A surprise drop in U.S. oil inventories caused crude prices to jump 14 per cent on Thursday, in New York, powering a broad commodities rally that pushed copper and corn higher. The only noticeable drop was in gold, which closed lower for the first time in three days.
Brazil plans to invest some $400 bn in coming 10 years to develop new offshore fields that may contain as much as 80 billion barrels of oil. For full story, click here
Get our independent commentary on oil trends and companies delivered to your inbox.
