Price of Light Sweet Crude Holds Up at $80/B

摘要

The price of light sweet crude for April contracts fell by $1.45/b on Tuesday, 23 February. That was certainly a significant one-day fall, but it took place after the American reference crude had risen above the $80/b threshold the day before. The price thus dropped to $78.86/b at the close on 23 February. The same day, the earliest futures contract fetching more than $80/b was for July this year, which was priced at $80.17/b. But the following day it rebounded by $1.14/b to $80/b. On ICE Futures in London, the price of North Sea Brent has followed a similar pattern, but it remains below that of the U.S. crude. This is normally the case due to the respective intrinsic characteristics of the two crudes. Brent shed $1.36/b on 23 February, ending the day at $77.25/b, but regained $0.84/b the next day to close at $78.09/b.