European and American crude oil futures fell sharply in light trading as concerns over new oversupply in the oil market resurfaced. On Friday (November 29), the January 2020 West Texas Light Oil futures settlement price on the New York Mercantile Exchange was US$55.17 per barrel, down US$2.94, or 5.1%, from the previous trading day, with a trading range of US$55.02-58.3; London The January 2020 Brent crude oil futures settlement price on the Intercontinental Exchange was US$62.43 per barrel, down US$1.44, or 2.3%, from the previous trading day, with a trading range of US$62.36-63.86. It is expected that OPEC and its non-OPEC production reduction alliance headed by Russia will continue to implement the production reduction agreement at next week’s Vienna meeting, but whether to extend the agreement that expires in March next year and whether to deepen production reductions remains to be discussed at the meeting. There are concerns that disagreements at the meeting, or non-compliance by oil-producing countries participating in production cuts, could lead to oversupply in the crude oil market in 2020. In addition, new oil supplies from smaller producers such as Brazil, Norway and Guyana, as well as growing crude oil production in the United States, have led some market participants to anticipate a supply glut and lower oil prices.
The monthly report just released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that U.S. crude oil production has reached a new high. U.S. crude oil production was 12.46 million barrels per day in September, compared with 12.397 million barrels per day in August. As technology developed, the United States increased crude oil production from shale formations, making the United States the world’s largest oil producer. In September, the daily crude oil production of Texas in the United States increased by 72,000 barrels, while the daily crude oil production of North Dakota and the Gulf of Mexico decreased. Daily crude oil production also increased in Oklahoma and Alaska.
In terms of demand, the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed in its monthly report that the average daily demand for U.S. gasoline in September was 9.2 million barrels, a decrease of 652,000 barrels per day from August. Average daily demand for distillates, including diesel, was 3.9 million barrels, a decrease of 87,000 barrels.
In the same period, U.S. natural gas production also increased to an all-time high. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that daily natural gas production in the United States increased to 104.8 billion cubic feet in September from an average of 104.2 billion cubic feet per day in August. Texas is the largest gas-producing state in the United States. Daily natural gas production in Texas reached a record high of 29 billion cubic feet in September, an increase of 1% from August. In Pennsylvania, the second largest gas-producing state in the United States, daily natural gas production increased by 0.1% to 19.24 billion cubic feet per day in September from an all-time high of 19.22 billion cubic feet per day in August.
In the first two days of this week, oil prices rose amid optimism about the progress of U.S.-China trade negotiations. However, subsequent data showed that U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly increased last week, and U.S. crude oil production hit a record high. In light trading on the U.S. Thanksgiving Day, the oil futures market saw WTI fall for two consecutive trading days, and Brent crude oil futures fell for three consecutive days. . In the past week, the first-month light sweet crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange had a net increase of US$0.33, or 0.57%; the average settlement price per barrel was US$58.16, US$1.014 higher than the previous week, with the highest settlement price of US$58.41 per barrel and the lowest per barrel. Barrel is US$58.01; trading range is US$55.02-58.68. The first-month Brent crude oil futures on London’s Intercontinental Exchange dropped a net US$1.26, or 1.99%; the average settlement price per barrel was US$63.60, US$0.97 higher than the previous week, with the highest settlement price being US$64.27 per barrel and the lowest settlement price being US$62.13 per barrel; trading Range 62.36-64.60 US dollars.
In November 2019, the first-month light sweet crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange had a net increase of US$0.99 per barrel, an increase of 1.83%; the average settlement price was US$57.07, higher than that in October 2019 3.064 US dollars, 0.377 US dollars higher than the same period last year; the settlement price was as high as 58.58 US dollars per barrel, and the lowest was 55.17 US dollars per barrel; the highest intraday price per barrel was 58.74 US dollars, and the lowest was 54.07 US dollars. The first-month Brent crude oil futures on the London Intercontinental Exchange had a net increase of US$2.20 per barrel, an increase of 3.65%; the average settlement price was US$62.710, US$3.077 higher than the average price of the previous month, and US$17.853 lower than the same period last year; the highest settlement price was US$64.27 per barrel. , the lowest was US$60.91 per barrel; the highest intraday was US$64.60, and the lowest was US$59.40.
Speculators increased their net long position in Brent crude futures. Managed funds’ net long positions in Brent crude oil futures and options increased by 12.27%. According to data analysis provided by Intercontinental Exchange, as of the week of November 26, Brent crude oil futures and options holdings were 3,130,607 lots, an increase of 4,364 lots from the previous week; managed funds held Brent crude oil futures and options The net long position was 349,487 lots, an increase of 38,183 lots from the previous week. Among them, long positions increased by 32,082, and short positions decreased by 6,101.
Managed funds’ net long positions in Brent crude oil futures increased by 16.16%. According to data analysis provided by Intercontinental Exchange, as of the week of November 26, Brent crude oil futures positions were 2,613,435 lots, an increase of 24,291 lots from the previous week; managed funds held a net long position of 352,213 lots in Brent crude oil futures. , an increase of 48,989 hands from the previous week. Among them, long positions increased by 34,637, and short positions decreased by 14,352.
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