DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Settled Lower Amid Ample Supplies
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Crude oil futures settled at their lowest level of the week on Friday, driven by concerns over ample supplies and weak demand fundamentals due to higher-than-expected crude inventory, while the U.S. dollar continued strengthening.
The front-month NYMEX WTI futures almost hit the $70 mark Friday after falling by $2.12 to $70.36 bbl while the April ICE Brent futures contract fell by $2.11 to $74.37 bbl, reaching its lowest level in over two weeks. The spread between both crude benchmarks widened to $4.08, the widest since Feb. 2.
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March RBOB futures contract fell by $0.0578 to $2.0287 gallon while ULSD futures contract for March delivery dropped by $0.0669 to $2.4365 gallon.
In the opposite direction, the U.S. Dollar Index climbed by 0.25% to 106.52 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Recent comments from U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that a trade deal with China might be possible, supported the dollar's strength. The Trump administration imposed a 10% on imported goods from China early February.
Oil futures were bearish to close the week on Friday due to ample supplies, driven by an increase in crude stocks as reported by the Energy Information Administration for the week ended Feb. 14, coupled with sluggish demand due to the uncertainty of trade tariffs.
Commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. rose by 4.6 million bbl to 432.5 million bbl last week, the EIA data showed. The figure was higher than the 3.3 million bbl build reported by the American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday, Feb. 19, for the same reference week.
In contrast, gasoline stocks fell by 200,000 bbl week-over-week to reach 247.9 million bbl, below the 2.83 million bbl drop reported by API for the week ending Feb. 14, EIA data showed.
Distillate fuel stocks recorded the steepest decline by dropping 2.1 million bbl to 116.6 million bbl last week, compared to a drop of 2.69 million bbl reported by the API.
