Brent, WTI Prices Plunge

EghtesadOnline: Oil prices dropped 1% for a second straight session on Monday as US producers began restoring output post-Hurricane Delta.

News ID: ۷۵۱۲۶۷

13 October 2020

Brent crude for December fell 41 cents to $42.44 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate for November was at $40.18 a barrel, down 42 cents, CNBC reported.

Front-month prices for both contracts gained more than 9% last week, the biggest weekly rise for Brent since June.

“We had good support for both Brent and West Texas on the back of some supply concerns,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Hurricane Delta, which dealt the greatest blow to US Gulf of Mexico energy production in 15 years, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone at the weekend.

Workers headed back to production platforms on Sunday, and Total SA was working to restart its 225,500 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery.

Despite the storm’s impact, oil prices of around $40 a barrel over the past few months encouraged US energy firms to add oil and natural gas rigs for a fourth week in a row last week, data from Baker Hughes showed.

Elsewhere, production in Libya - a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries - is expected to rise to 355,000 barrels per day on Monday after force majeure was lifted on the Sharara field from Sunday.

Caption: Brent crude for December fell 41 cents to $42.44 a barrel on Monday.