geopolitics

Oil prices continued to climb last week and are now some $10 a barrel higher than they were just before Christmas when recent lows were set.

Since hitting a recent low on Dec 22nd, oil prices have climbed by $5-6 a barrel as the markets tried to sort out where supply and demand are going.

It was a volatile week for oil prices with WTI falling on Monday to nearly $42 a barrel and London falling to $51.  Oil surged on Wednesday, after posting on Christmas day its strongest daily gain in more than two years from the steep losses on Monday that pushed crude benchmarks to lows not seen since 2017.

Oil prices fell by more than 11 percent last week to their lowest since mid-2017 with London futures closing at $53.82 and New York at $45.59.  

Oil prices were volatile last week trading inside a narrow range of about $1.50 a barrel and climbing or falling in response to the news of the day.  

Oil prices surged briefly on Friday after the announcement of a 1.2 million b/d OPEC+ production cut; however, by the close NY futures were up only $1.61 to close at $52.61, and London was up about the same to close at $61.67.  

US oil production continued to climb in September with oil companies producing a record 11.47 million b/d, 1.98 million b/d higher than in September 2017 (it takes two months to get reliable numbers accumulated).

Oil prices slid more than 6 percent on Friday to the lowest levels in more than a year.   New York futures closed at $50.42, down almost $26 a barrel since early October, and London closed at $58.80.

The $20 a barrel price plunge, which began in early October, continued last week with New York futures closing at $56.46 and London at $66.76.  

The plunge in oil prices, which began in early October, continued last week with New York oil futures closing Friday at $63.14, down about $14 a barrel in the past month.

Oil prices fell by nearly 3 percent last week to settle at $77.62 in London and $67.59 in New York. This was the third weekly decline in a row that has taken prices down by about $10 a barrel since early October.

Crude oil prices have been volatile thus far in October, hitting a four-year high to start the month before falling nearly $8 a barrel in the two weeks.