Coquest

Coquest Daily Energy Report for February 16, 2024

Posted on 2024-02-16

Crude Oil futures for March settled up $1.16, or -1.49%, at $79.19. Crude oil prices concluded the week with an uptick, primarily driven by heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, overshadowing the International Energy Agency's projection of a deceleration in demand. Hezbollah announced the firing of numerous rockets at a northern Israeli town as a "preliminary response" to the killing of 10 civilians in southern Lebanon, marking the deadliest day for Lebanese civilians in four months of cross-border hostilities. Meanwhile, in January, U.S. producer prices saw a more significant-than-anticipated rise, particularly in service costs, potentially intensifying concerns about inflation. U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs in operation for the second time in three weeks.

 

Natural Gas futures for March settled up $.028 or 1.77% at $1.609. Natural gas prices finally edged up on Friday due to expectations of reduced output in 2024 following a significant price drop. Considering the full week, US nat gas prices tumbled nearly 13% and touched their lowest since June 2020 at $1.59/MMBtu, after the EIA reported a smaller-than-expected storage draw. Government figures showed US utilities pulled 49 billion cubic feet of natural gas from storage, less than market expectations of a 67 bcf draw as warmer-than-normal weather kept heating demand low. The report also showed gas in storage is 15.9% above the seasonal norm.

 

View the full report here.

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