Market Commentary

Monday is a holiday and our offices will be closed. No contracts available on Monday. Iran has threatened to spread the war beyond the Middle East if the United States attacks again. These comments were made after President Trump said he was with one hour of restarting the military campaign. […]

The Baker Hughes Rig Count had oil rigs up 5 to a total of 415. Last year at this time there were 465 oil rigs in operation. Crude oil did extend its gains from Friday with Brent and WTI reaching highs of $112 and $108 per barrel respectively in the […]

Energy markets are trading slightly down here this morning as the news is relatively quiet. Several headlines about the meeting between the US and China. The market has been extremely volatile so a bit of a lull or rest might be in order even though there are still plenty of […]

The Baker Hughes Rig Count had oil rigs up 2 to a total of 410 and last year at this time oil rigs were at 408. The energy markets are trading higher after President Trump rejected Iran’s counterproposal over the weekend. President Trump called the proposal “totally unacceptable”.  The US […]

There are a lot of headlines and reports about the Iran and US current negotiations, some positive some negative which leaves us all waiting and watching to see how things progress. Iran called the US proposal more of a wish list rather than a serious proposal. US and Pakastani official […]

Axios reported, citing two officials, that the White House believes it is getting close to an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework from more detailed nuclear negotiations. According to the report, US expects Iranian responses on several key points […]

Prices were mixed yesterday as the war in the Middle East continues and the Strait of Hormuz is essentially shut down. Some of the pullback off the highs yesterday was profit taking on the news that there is a law that the president can only commit acts of war for […]

The news snippets continue to hit the headlines and impact prices here in the near term.  WTI crude oil is up currently roughly 5 dollars per barrel. This is being helped but President Trump’s comments that he is not happy with Iran’s proposal to negotiate about their nuclear program after […]

The DOE inventory report had crude oil inventories up 1.93 million barrels, gasoline supplies were down 4.57 million barrels and distillates were down 3.43 million barrels. The crude oil build was seen as a bit of a surprise and bearish prices. Total crude oil inventories now stand at 465.729 and […]

The weekend ceasefire talks ended without a deal, and President Trump announced a blockade of all vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that any military vessel attempting to approach the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the two-week ceasefire and be dealt with […]

John Kemp reports that North Sea Forties crude prices closed at a record $147 per barrel on April 9. Forties is one of the principal streams in the Brent complex, and prices have doubled since before the war between the United States and Iran broke out. A JPMorgan research note […]

After yesterday’s huge sell-off prices are up today as there is a lot of uneasiness about the ceasefire. There is also confusion about whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or not and all this supports prices.  Israel has continued its fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon as they say the […]