Bourse

Home page

Bourse

Oil price hits record monthly percentage gain in May

01 June 2009 11:24 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil futures prices rose for a fifth straight day last Friday, setting a new six-month high on hopes of a recovery in global oil demand, Dow Jones reported.
Light, sweet crude oil futures for July delivery settled $1.23, or 1.9%, higher at $66.31 a barrel, the most since Nov. 5. Prices gained 8.6% or $5.26 a barrel in the last five trading days.
Front-month crude prices rose $15.19 a barrel, or 29.7%, in May. That’s the biggest dollar rise for any contract since Nymex crude trading began in 1983 and the largest percentage gain in any month since March 1999.

The July ICE Brent crude futures settled at $64.39, up $1.13 or 1.75%.
Saudi Arabia’s view that the global economy can handle oil prices above $75 a barrel and its hope that they reach that level by year-end added fuel to the market’s fire.
Ali Naimi, oil minister of the world’s largest oil exporter, said at OPEC talks this week that he sees signs of economic recovery and higher oil demand, especially in Asia. That plays into the view of commodity fund investors who have invested heavily in the energy market in recent weeks, keeping a rally percolating that has doubled crude prices since the low of $32.70 on Jan. 20.
U.S. crude oil inventories have dropped by more than 12 million barrels in the past three weeks, raising hopes that the highest inventories since September 1990 will continue to be pared amid stepped-up refinery runs in response to rising gasoline demand.
In the week before the May 25 Memorial Day holiday that kicks off the summer driving season, U.S. gasoline demand jumped 3.5% to its highest level since Aug. 31, 2007, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.
Market participants said they’ll be looking for further signs in coming weeks of persistent strength in oil demand in the U.S. and abroad.
Heating oil futures prices were especially strong Friday on hopes that a recovery in Asian demand for distillate fuel will trigger higher exports and slash a huge overhang in the U.S. market well ahead of the winter season.
"The Saudi talk certainly has kept us on bull mode," said Tony Rosado, a broker with GA Global Markets in New York.
Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn., said he believes crude can climb to $70 to $72 a barrel soon before it will need to see further improvements in supply and demand to rise further. Prices could slide to $60 without follow-through signs of an improving outlook, he said. But he doubts that fund investors would bail out and push prices down to $50 a barrel.
RBOB gasoline futures for June delivery, expired at the settlement at $1.9310 a gallon, up 1%, or 2.05 cents, and the highest price since Oct. 9. June gasoline rose 45.68c in the month, or 31%. That’s the biggest penny-for-penny rise since May 2008 and the largest percentage rise since March 2006.
June heating oil futures expired at $1.6419 a gallon, up 4.05 cents, or 2.5%, and the highest level since Nov. 28. June heating oil rose 32.72c, or 24.89% in the month. That’s the biggest penny-for-penny rise since May 2008 and the largest percentage gain since August 2005.