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Oil prices recorded their biggest weekly loss in three months, as the market, already concerned about weak demand, dealt with growing speculation that an OPEC meeting in June could expose cracks in the alliance, with the United Arab Emirates saying it would… Increasing production capacity.
When the UAE brings an additional 200,000 barrels to the table, it raises its baseline, Mizuho's Robert Jawger told Dow Jones. “It's no coincidence that they pushed that number out there a month before the meeting.”
Most sources indicated that OPEC+ may extend its voluntary oil production cuts beyond June if demand does not rise.
Oil futures fell this week after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 7.3 million barrel build in crude inventories, the largest weekly increase since February, and the Federal Reserve reiterated its reluctance to cut interest rates any time soon.
Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM) for June delivery lost 1% on Friday and expired -6.8% To $78.11 per barrel during the week, July Brent crude (CO1:COM) lost 0.8% on Friday to close out the week. -5.9% to $82.96 per barrel; For both benchmarks, this was the largest one-week percentage decline since the week ending February 2.
But June Nymex Natural Gas (NG1:COM) rose 5.2% on Friday and was +11.4% for the week to $2.142 per million British thermal units, its first weekly gain in four weeks, supported by lower production and higher demand for the energy sector as tensions escalate in parts of the United States.
ETFs: (NYSEARCA:use), (BNO), (UCO), (SCO), (USL), (DBO), (DRIP), (GUSH), (NRGU), (USOI), (UNG), (BOIL), (COLD), (UNL), (FCG)
“there “Concerns about demand in the United States “Commercial crude oil inventories are increasing more than expected,” said Fouad Razaqzadeh, a City Index and Forex.com analyst, and with the rate at which refineries process crude oil into crude products has declined significantly, Market monitoring.
Data showing a second consecutive large weekly decline in the number of active U.S. oil rigs provided little support for oil prices on Friday, even if the decline signaled a potential slowdown in future production.
The energy sector, as indicated by the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), was the worst performer this week, -3.3%.
Top 10 gainers in energy and natural resources over the past 5 days: Enovix (ENVX) +56.2%TPI Compounds (TPIC) +34.5%flash charging (BLNK) +25.6%Fluence Energy (FLNC) +24%Brookfield Renewable Energy (BEPC) +21.7%Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (BEP) +20.8%Altus Power (AMPS) +20.1%Northern Europe Oil Royalty Fund (NRT) +19.9%Dinagas LNG Partners (DLNG) +17.9%Summit Mediator Partners (SMLP) +17.3%.
Top 5 Lows in Energy and Natural Resources in the Past 5 Days: Critical Minerals (CRML) -16.8%Profrac Holdings (ACDC) -15.4%CVR Power (CVI) -11.2%Obsidian Energy (OBE) -11.1%Scali Royalty (SRL) -11.1%.
Source: Barchart.com