Oil Prices Mixed for the Week

Oil Prices Mixed for the Week
Both the WTI and Brent fell Friday, but one remains slightly positive for the week.

Both the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil benchmarks declined during Friday’s trading, but one of the futures prices managed to remain positive – but just barely – for the week.

May WTI oil futures fell 94 cents Friday to settle at $59.04 per barrel. The WTI traded within a range from $58.28 to $60.07. Despite Friday’s loss, the WTI remains up slightly – 0.9 percent – compared to last Friday’s settlement price.

Friday’s WTI price movement marks the second consecutive down day for the U.S. benchmark, which fell just two cents shy Thursday of settling at the $60-mark. The WTI has not settled at or above that psychologically significant level for more than four months.

Also moving downward Friday was the U.S. oil and gas rig count as compiled by Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE). As Rigzone reported earlier in the day, the number of the oil rigs operating in the United States fell by nine this week while the number of gas rigs decreased by one. The overall 1,016-rig count marks the fifth straight week of declines.

Brent crude oil for May delivery lost 83 cents Friday, settling at $67.03 per barrel. For the week, the Brent is down 0.2 percent.

Front-month reformulated gasoline (RBOB) got a bit more expensive Friday. The April RBOB contract price rose by less than a penny to end the day at close to $1.93 per gallon. Week-on-week, RBOB is up nearly four percent.

Henry Hub natural gas futures lost seven cents Friday. The April contract price, which settled at $2.75, is down nearly two percent for the week.



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