DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Recovered From Weekly Losses
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Oil futures ended up on Friday as markets reacted positively to the announcement of additional sanctions that the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed on Iranian oil trade, which is expected to affect global supplies and put upward pressure on oil prices.
Thursday, Feb. 6, the Department of the Treasury announced sanctions on "an international network for facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the People's Republic of China."
U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, aiming to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero.
Expectations of tight oil global supplies, due to stricter sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil trade from the U.S., set the bullish tone in the oil markets.
Oil futures recovered from multi-day losses due to the uncertainty generated by trade tariffs the Trump administration imposed on imported goods from China last weekend, while delaying for a month the retaliatory tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. High inventory levels on crude and gasoline inventory also put pressure on oil prices in the last three weeks.
The front-month NYMEX WTI futures contract rose by $0.38 to $70.75 bbl while the April ICE Brent futures contract increased by $0.34 to $74.63 bbl. March RBOB futures contract rose by $0.0298 to $2.1045 gallon while ULSD futures contract for March delivery increased by $0.0376 to $2.4356 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.38% to 107.93 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Friday morning, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that total non-farm payroll employment rose by 143,000 in January, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4%. Both figures were below the market expectations of 169,000 and 4.1%, respectively.
Job gains occurred in healthcare, retail trade, and social assistance, while employment dropped in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry, the BLS said.
Maria Eugenia Garcia can be reached at Maria.Garcia@dtn.com
