Spot Cargo Markets -Atlantic Divide

摘要

Markets started to diverge on either side of the Atlantic. International benchmark Brent stayed below $50 per barrel through most of last week. The front-month September contract closed at $49.22/bbl Thursday, for a loss of 30￠ on the week while US price-pin WTI settled at $42.23 for a loss of $2.43/bbl. Brent’s premium over WTI reached a three-week high of nearly $7/bbl as US crude posted steeper declines. China’s surprise move to devalue its currency spooked currency markets and strengthened the dollar, which could pose problems for the US economy going forward. Concerns about oversupply in US crude and product markets snuffed out a brief rally on Monday which resumed at midweek after latest US government data pegged US commercial crude inventories at 453.6 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 7 -down 1.7 million bbl versus the previous week. Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma pricing point for the Nymex futures contract were 100,000 bbl lower at 57.1 million bbl. Nevertheless, some sources such as Genscape have warned that the impending refinery maintenance season could push crude inventories to a point that overwhelms storage capacity at Cushing. “The big picture shows us that this year is on track to be the most oversupplied period for at least 17 years,” said PVM Brokerage analysts in a note.