Beginning the week with astronomic gains, crude markets ended the week well below their Monday highs. The big news of the week was the attack on Saudi oil infrastructure over the weekend which caused the market to jump nearly 20% at once. The news that half of Saudi oil output and nearly 5% of global supply had been attacked and taken off line drove the markets sharply higher to begin the week.
On Tuesday, news that nearly 50% of Saudi supply had been restored and that the facilities would return to normal operations by the end of September caused the market to tumble. With Wednesday’s bearish EIA report of a small build rather than the expected draw, markets slid further down to stabilize through the end of the week. The market is up marginally in early trading Friday morning.
Prices in Review
WTI Crude opened the week at $61.48. It fell mid-week but stabilized as the week closed. Crude opened Friday at $58.65, a loss of $2.83 (-4.6%).
Diesel opened the week at $1.9860. It rose and fell with crude as the week progressed but rose on Thursday to close the week higher. Diesel opened Friday at $2.0129, a gain of 2.7 cents (1.4%).
Gasoline opened the week at $1.6370. It more closely followed diesel than crude. Gasoline opened Friday at $1.7020, a gain of 6.5 cents (4.0%).
