Tag Archives: Oil Prices

Wall Street resumes 2016 slide as energy stocks tumble

(Reuters) – Wall Street sold off on Monday, pulled lower by further weakness in oil prices as energy shares led declines, with major indexes retreating after last week’s strong gains.

Oil prices fell 6 percent on concerns of oversupply after news that Iraq’s output reached a record last month.

The S&P energy group dropped 4.5 percent, the worst performing sector. Exxon and Chevron each fell more than 3 percent, while ConocoPhillips tumbled 9.2 percent after Barclays said the company should cut its dividend by at least 75 percent.

The major indexes each fell more than 1 percent, reversing much of a two-session rally that marked Wall Street’s first week of gains in the year. All 10 major S&P sectors finished the session lower.

During the poor start for the year for U.S. stocks, their performance has closely correlated with the price of oil. The commodity’s dramatic 1-1/2-year slide has sparked broad concerns about a global economic slowdown.

“Today is all about oil,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

“Better oil markets Thursday and Friday led to better equity markets. A $2 retracement in oil today, it’s not surprising to see a retracement in the equity indices.”

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 208.29 points, or 1.29 percent, to 15,885.22, the S&P 500 lost 29.82 points, or 1.56 percent, to 1,877.08 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 72.69 points, or 1.58 percent, to 4,518.49.

Investors will look for insight about the economy’s direction later this week as many heavyweight companies report results. Federal Reserve policymakers meet on Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since raising interest rates in December.

“The macroeconomic reality is catching up to equity valuations, and you’re seeing folks say, ‘I’m going to take my winnings and get out of the way for a while,'” said Jeff Buetow, chief investment officer at Innealta Capital in Austin, Texas.

D.R. Horton shares fell 4.7 percent to $26.40 as the No. 1 U.S. homebuilder reported lower-than-expected revenue as its home sales fell in all regions but the Southeast.

Tyco International jumped 11.6 percent to $34.15 after Johnson Controls said it would merge with the Ireland-based fire protection and security systems maker. Johnson Controls dropped 3.9 percent to $34.21.

Shares of Dynegy and NRG Energy slumped 11.5 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a major Obama administration electricity markets regulation.

Caterpillar dropped 5 percent to $57.91 after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the stock to “sell”.

Twitter fell 4.6 percent to $17.02 after Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said four senior executives would leave the social media company.

About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, slightly below the 8.1 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,642 to 466, for a 5.67-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,132 issues fell and 716 advanced for a 2.98-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and 22 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 103 new lows.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Nick Zieminski)

Oil reaches lowest price since 2003 as Iran sanctions lifted

(Reuters) – Oil prices slumped to a 2003 low below $28 per barrel on Monday as the market anticipated a rise in Iranian exports after the lifting of sanctions against Tehran over the weekend.

Responding to Tehran’s compliance with a nuclear deal, the United States and major powers revoked international sanctions that had cut Iran’s oil exports by about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) since their pre-sanctions 2011 peak to little more than 1 million bpd.

Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), issued an order on Monday to increase production by 500,000 bpd, the country’s deputy oil minister said.

Worries about Iran’s return to an already oversupplied oil market drove down Brent crude to $27.67 a barrel early on Monday, its lowest since 2003. The benchmark was down 29 cents at $28.64 by 1:50 p.m. ET.

U.S. crude was down 48 cents at $28.94 a barrel, not far from a 2003 low of $28.36 hit earlier in the session. Trading volumes were thin with U.S. markets closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.

“You can’t say this was unexpected but the Iran news is an additional factor that’s working against oil prices,” said TD Securities analyst Bart Melek, who also pointed to global oversupply and concerns about demand from China.

He said oil could fall further if Chinese economic data released overnight, including GDP and retail sales data, points to more weakness in the economy.

“If we get nasty economic numbers from China there’s potential for another swoosh lower,” Melek said.

Analysts expect Iran will realistically be able to export an extra 500,000 bpd in the short term from storage, but there are doubts whether the state of Iran’s oil infrastructure will allow further boosts anytime soon.

SEB Markets assumes Iranian oil output will rise by 400,000 bpd to 3.2 million bpd in 2016, while Tehran has said it will add 1 million bpd to its existing output by the year-end.

Iran has at least a dozen Very Large Crude Carrier super-tankers filled and in place to sell into the market.

In a sign of the pain low prices are inflicting on oil producers, OPEC forecast that supply outside the organization would decline by 660,000 bpd in 2016, led by the United States. Last month OPEC predicted a drop of 380,000 bpd.

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghadder in London, Roslan Khasawneh and Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by David Goodman, Dale Hudson and Frances Kerry)

Bounce in oil prices lifts energy shares, U.S. stocks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The energy sector led the beaten-up U.S. stock market higher on Thursday as oil prices rebounded from 12-year lows.

Major U.S. indexes climbed about 2 percent after dropping to 3-1/2 month lows on Wednesday. Gains in stocks and oil also helped push the U.S. dollar higher, while the increases in risk assets reduced demand for safe-haven gold and U.S. government debt.

Equity markets have tumbled to start the year as volatility in Chinese shares and the persistent slide in oil made investors jittery about the health of the global economy.

“Oil has been able to hold the gains, and I think that has just given a little confidence for people to come back into the market today,” said Maury Fertig, chief investment officer at Relative Value Partners in Northbrook, Illinois.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 227.64 points, or 1.41 percent, to 16,379.05, the S&P 500 gained 31.56 points, or 1.67 percent, to 1,921.84 and the Nasdaq Composite added 88.94 points, or 1.97 percent, to 4,615.00.

The U.S. energy group surged 4.5 percent, leading all sectors.

Investors were also encouraged by comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who said the oil rout has caused a “worrisome” drop in U.S. inflation expectations that may make further rate hikes hard to justify.

The Fed will raise interest rates three times this year, a Reuters poll of economists found.

Better-than-expected results from JP Morgan gave a boost to what is expected to be a dour U.S. corporate earnings season.

“You have perhaps the biggest financial bank stock that came out, and they had pretty good results, so that may have quieted down some concerns,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana.

January’s deep losses may have primed the stock market for a rebound but rallies have tended to fizzle at the start of 2016. On Thursday, too, stocks ended well off their highs.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index dropped 1.5 percent, hurt by a slump in the auto sector as Renault faced an emissions probe, but the index came off its 13-month lows.

MSCI’s broadest gauge of stocks globally rose 0.3 percent.

Benchmark Brent oil snapped an eight-day rout as some players covered short positions after crude prices plumbed new 12-year lows on worries that Iran may add its barrels to a glutted global market sooner than expected.

With options for U.S. crude’s front-month February futures expiring, traders were covering short positions.

“Natural covering interest is buoying the market as many had $30 as an objective,” said Pete Donovan, broker at Liquidity Energy in New York.

U.S. crude prices settled up 2.4 percent at $31.20 a barrel, while Brent crude settled up 2.4 percent at $31.03 a barrel.

The dollar rose, bolstered by gains in the U.S. stock market and a rebound in oil prices, suggesting that the Federal Reserve will not be as constrained to push ahead with its plan to raise interest rates several times this year.

The U.S. dollar rose 0.1 percent against a basket of currencies, while the euro fell 0.1 percent against the dollar.

Prices on U.S. Treasuries fell as oil prices steadied. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell 8/32 in price to yield 2.0926 percent, from 2.066 late on Wednesday.

Spot gold fell 1.4 percent as the oil price rebound and rise in U.S. shares blunted bullion’s appeal as a haven.

(Additional reporting by Tariro Mzezewa, Barani Krishnan and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York, Ankur Banerjee and Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru, Marc Jones in London, Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Raissa Kasolowsky and Nick Zieminski)

BP to slash thousands more jobs in face of oil downturn

LONDON (Reuters) – British oil and gas company BP announced plans on Tuesday to slash 5 percent of its global workforce in the face of a continued slump in oil prices.

It said it aims to reduce its global oil production, or upstream, headcount by 4,000 to 20,000 as it undergoes a $3.5 billion restructuring program. BP said its headcount totaled around 80,000 at the end of 2015.

With crude oil prices at 12-year lows of around $32 a barrel, the world’s biggest oil and gas producers are set to continue aggressively slashing spending this year as they face their longest period of investment cuts in decades.

“We want to simplify (our) structure and reduce costs without compromising safety. Globally, we expect the headcount in upstream to be below 20,000 by the end of the year,” a company spokesman said.

In the North Sea, he said BP planned to reduce headcount by 600 people over the next two years with most cuts likely in 2016.

BP shares, which have fallen by around 40 percent since the oil price began to slide in mid-2014, were up 1.2 percent at 1157 GMT compared with a 0.8 percent rise for the broader sector index.

Oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron have already slashed tens of thousands jobs globally to deal with a near 75 percent drop in oil prices since June 2014 that has seen earnings collapse.

BP, which must also pay $20 billion in fines to resolve the deadly 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, announced in October plans for a third round of spending cuts and said it would limit capital spending, or capex, to $17-19 billion a year through to 2017.

The company, which has already sold over $50 billion of assets in recent years in order to cover the spill costs, said it expected an additional $3-5 billion of divestments in 2016.

Fourth-quarter upstream earnings for oil majors are expected to fall by 84 percent from a year earlier and 48 percent from the previous quarter, according to analysts at Macquarie.

BP will report fourth quarter and full-year results for 2015 on Feb. 2.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Jason Neely and Susan Fenton)

Oil dive deepens to 12-year low; $20 warning on China

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A brutal new year selloff in oil markets quickened on Monday, with prices plunging 6 percent to new 12-year lows as further ructions in the Chinese stock market threatened to knock crude as low as $20 a barrel.

Amid an accelerating tailspin that shows no sign of slowing, Monday’s dive – the biggest one-day loss since September – triggered a rash of panicky trading across the market.

Long-term futures contracts for 2017 and beyond fell nearly as hard as those for immediate delivery as some producers rushed to hedge, while a key options gauge surged to nearly its highest since 2009.

The latest catalyst was a further 5 percent decline in China’s blue-chip stocks and a surge in overnight interest rates for the yuan outside of China to nearly 40 percent, their highest since the launch of the offshore market. Technical and momentum selling added fuel to the selloff.

Morgan Stanley warned that a further devaluation of the yuan could send oil prices spiraling into the $20-$25 per barrel range, extending the year’s 15 percent slide.

“The focus is still on China and the demand concerns in China moving forward into 2016,” said Tony Headrick, an energy market analyst at CHS Hedging LLC.

While China’s volatility is spooking traders over the outlook for demand from the world’s No. 2 consumer, drillers in the United States say they are focused on keeping their wells running as long as possible, despite the slump.

U.S. shale output is expected to decline by 116,000 barrels per day in February versus the month before, the same rate as January’s estimated drop and a slower pace than many had expected months ago, the Energy Information Administration said.

Brent crude futures fell $2.00 to settle at $31.55 a barrel, their lowest since April 2004. Brent has fallen more than 15 percent in six straight days of losses, the worst such slump in a year.

Long-dated Brent crude prices for 2017 and 2018 fell nearly as hard as the tumbling front-month contract on Monday amid a scramble of producer hedging, according to dealers.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.75 to settle at $31.41 a barrel, the lowest since December 2003.

The fierce selling triggered a renewed scramble to buy options betting on a further slide, sending the CBOE volatility index, a gauge of options premiums based on moves in the U.S. oil exchange traded fund, over 13 percent higher to more than 63 – close to its highest level in seven years.

Nearly 17,000 lots of March $30 puts and 18,000 lots of February $30 puts traded, doubling Friday’s volumes.

The markets are positioned in a way where “traders are afraid to be long,” said Clayton Vernon, a trader and economist with Aquivia LLC in New Jersey. “The firm push for normalization with Iran has taken the last shred of geopolitical risk out of traders’ minds.”

The European Union said on Monday that the lifting of sanctions on Iran could come soon, following a deal last year to curb the Middle East nation’s nuclear program. Many market participants say that Iran’s return to the oil markets would add more pressure to the global glut that has knocked prices from more than $100 in mid-2014.

Speculators cut their net long position to the smallest since 2010, with short positions rising in a sign that they are losing faith in a price rise any time soon.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Andrew Hay)

Oil dives below $35, lowest in 11 years, as U.S. supply swells

By Catherine Ngai

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Crude oil prices plunged 6 percent on Wednesday, diving below $35 per barrel for the first time since 2004 as data showing a shockingly large build-up of U.S. gasoline supplies fed fears that a global surplus was still growing.

The sell-off, the biggest one-day drop for global benchmark Brent futures since the start of September, takes losses this year to more than 8 percent, a descent stoked by worsening Chinese economic data, the world’s No. 2 oil consumer, and a fierce row between Saudi Arabia and Iran that some say may be more bearish than bullish.

The focus on Wednesday was U.S. government data showing a 10.6 million-barrel surge in gasoline supplies, the biggest build since 1993, which some traders said signaled a slow-down in demand that could prolong the global glut. The figures overshadowed a 5.1 million-barrel fall in crude stocks. [EIA/S]

“Gasoline was the sole source of strength within the complex, and that looks to have ended,” said John Kilduff, a partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital.

Brent futures <LCOc1> fell $2.19 to settle at $34.23 a barrel. Earlier, it fell to as low as $34.13, its lowest level since the start of July 2004.

U.S. crude futures <CLc1> fell $2.00 to settle at $33.97 a barrel, its lowest close since February 2009.

Traders shrugged off rising geopolitical risks, including an apparent North Korea nuclear test. Many reckoned that the row between Saudi Arabia and Iran posed little threat to oil shipments, but made an agreement on output even less likely.

“I think we’ll see a price war soon to keep market share,” said Tariq Zahir, an analyst at Tyche Capital Advisors. “Prices will get lower and I think we’ll hit $32 again.”

Following an 18-month rout, the fierce selling this year has caught some by surprise, and prompted others to pick up bearish options at lower prices. The $30 February WTI put <CL300N6> was the second most traded strike price at 12,700 lots after $30 March puts <CL300O6> at 21,500 lots.

The CBOE volatility index <.OVX>, a gauge of options premiums based on moves in the U.S. oil exchange traded fund, was up 5.5 percent after moving sideways on Tuesday.

“We’ve entered some unchartered territories, so it’s no surprise that traders are pumping volatility,” said John Saucer, vice president of research and analysis at Mobius Risk Group.

Feeding into the weak market sentiment, a survey showed that China’s services sector expanded at its slowest pace in 17 months in December, following on from weak factory data on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Simon Falush in London, and Henning Gloystein, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Roslan Khasawneh in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Crude Oil Prices Rise Slightly After Hitting 8-Year Lows

Crude oil prices bounced slightly back Monday after hitting their lowest price in nearly a decade.

Oil prices have been closely monitored since Dec. 4, when the Order of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced at a meeting it would not place a cap on its oil production. That has allowed the organization’s 12 members to keep flooding an oversaturated global market with more of the commodity, sending the prices tumbling to levels not previously seen in years.

Monday’s developments were the first hint of a rebound since that meeting, Reuters reported.

The price of U.S. crude rose 69 cents and closed at $36.31, an increase of 1.94 percent.

However, the price of Brent crude, which is widely seen as a benchmark for global oil purchase prices, dropped a penny to $37.92. The Wall Street Journal reported it was the seventh straight day Brent crude saw its price decline, the commodity’s longest losing streak since July 2014.

Barrels of both oils were trading below $35 earlier Monday. Before the rebound, Reuters reported the prices were as cheap as they’ve been since the 2008 financial crisis started.

OPEC hasn’t capped its oil production because it wants to retain its share in the global market, Al Jazeera reported. If OPEC limited its output, other countries are in a position to produce oil that the organization otherwise could.

While U.S. drivers are certainly enjoying the cheap oil — AAA reported the national average dropped to $2.014 per gallon, about 55 cents cheaper than this time last year — the low price represents a significant challenge to some countries that depend on oil for their revenue.

CNN reported Monday that Russian finance officials were anticipating oil could drop to $30 a barrel in 2016. The country, which is not an OPEC member, based its budget on an oil price of $50 per barrel and the country’s oil and gas exports represent about 50 percent of its revenue.

AAA said the national average gas price has not fallen below $2.00 a gallon since 2009.

Chinese Stocks Fall Short on Third Quarter, Oil prices Drop Below $50 a Barrel

According to a Reuters poll of 50 economists, China’s growth in the July-September shows that it has slowed to 6.8 percent; down from 7 percent in the second quarter. If this report is correct, this would reveal China’s weakest growth pace since 2009 when it fell to 6.2. percent in the first quarter.  

According to some news sources this is better than predicted given the unsurety of the market in the last few months. But China’s growth data is always watched and considered to be one of the main global barometer on the economy.  

Crude oil prices are also fell again at 3 percent on Monday and below $50 a barrel.    According to news sources, the signs that a nuclear deal will begin this year that will waive sanctions on Iranian oil are contributing to the already rollercoaster oil market.      

Bloomberg reports that Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh announced that OPEC should manage the market by reducing the level of production and wants prices back to between $70 and $80 a barrel.    

West Texas Intermediate crude oil is lower by 1.1% at $46.73 a barrel.

Oil Prices Hit 6 1/2 Year Lows

Oil prices opened today by falling 6 percent to a 6 1/2 year low as markets worried about a Chinese-led global economic slowdown.

The markets were already steadily falling due to a season of plentiful oil supply.  However, one oil market analyst said the common forces of supply and demand are not causing the problems within the oil market prices.

“Today’s falls are not about oil market fundamentals. It’s all about China,” Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, told the Reuters Global Oil Forum. “The fear is of a hard landing and that things get out of the control of the Chinese authorities.”

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell below $39 a barrel early Monday, a level that had not been reached since 2009.  The market had closed on Friday at $40.29.  In June 2014, oil was hovering around $100 a barrel.

The prices could fall significantly further if the Iranian nuclear deal between the Obama Administration and Iran is approved. The lifting of restrictions because of the deal would have Iranian oil flooding into the world market supply.  Iranian officials said they would be aiming to raise production.

“We will be raising our oil production at any cost and we have no other alternative,” Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. “If Iran’s oil production hike is not done promptly, we will be losing our market share permanently.”

The company that tracks gasoline prices for AAA reports that gas prices at the pump for Americans will likely fall below $2 after averaging around $3.40 a year ago.

Chinese Stock Market Plunge Roils Markets

The Chinese government is preparing to buy shares of stock to stabilize their markets after a plunge of more than 8 percent on Monday that impacted markets across the world.

The government also threatened to “deal severely” with anyone who is found to be engaging in “malicious shorting of stocks” in the government’s opinion.

The two Chinese markets, the CSI300 and the SSEC lost 8.6% and 8.5% respectively.  Only 13 of the 1,114 stocks on the Shanghai Composite were up after Monday.

“Because of the high, still high leverage exposure of the Chinese markets, anything that triggers a decline in such a short time will see some negative spiral effects in such highly leveraged markets,” Raymond Yeung, senior economist of Greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, told VOA.

The Chinese market collapse caused the Dow Industrial Average to fall 150 points at the opening Monday.

“The fear factor of China is very much alive in the market. That’s nearing us to some technical support levels,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital told CNBC. “Slow growth out of China just complicates the oil picture.”

The Chinese market caused oil to fall below $48 a barrel.

One Chinese market expert says the government should allow the market to correct as Chinese stocks are overpriced.

“The valuation of Chinese [stock] markets remains over-priced, which creates rooms for further downward revisions. The government’s rescue measures could curb the slides in a short term, but are powerless in reversing the long-term trend,” Lu Suiqi, associate professor of economics at Peking University says.