Why US Crude Oil Prices Are Steady
On June 14, Russia and Saudi Arabia announced a bilateral framework to increase cooperation and manage the oil market.
Nov. 20 2020, Updated 1:33 p.m. ET
US crude oil
On June 14, US crude oil July futures rose 0.4% and closed at $66.89 per barrel. That same day, the United States Oil ETF (USO) rose 0.4%.
On June 14, Hess (HES) rose 0.8%, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) was unchanged, and Oasis Petroleum (OAS) fell 1%. They were the outperformers on our list of oil-weighted stocks.
Why are US crude oil prices steady?
In the seven days to June 14, US crude oil July futures rose 1.4%. US crude oil prices are steady ahead of the OPEC meeting scheduled for June 22. Bullish inventory data also supported oil.
On June 14, Russia and Saudi Arabia announced a bilateral framework to increase the cooperation between the two countries to manage the oil market. The announcement came just eight days before OPEC’s crucial meeting.
Natural gas
On June 14, natural gas July futures rose just 0.1% and settled at ~$2.97 per million British thermal units. That same day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a rise of 96 Bcf (billion cubic feet) in natural gas inventories for the week ended June 8. That was 8 Bcf more than the level expected by an S&P Global Platts survey.
In the trailing week, natural gas July futures rose 1.2%. The United States Natural Gas ETF (UNG) rose 1.3% during that period. Expectations of a lower addition to inventory levels and bullish weather forecast data could be behind natural gas’s rise in the past five trading sessions.