Oil price falls 2pc: Oil prices plunged around 2 per cent on Friday

• Jeff Goins
• 14 Aug, 2022

Oil prices plunged around 2 percent on Friday on expectations that supply disruptions in the US Gulf of Mexico would be short-term, while recession fears clouded the demand outlook.

Futures, however, were still on track for a weekly gain. Brent crude futures fell $1.45, or 1.5 per cent, to settle at $98.15 a barrel,

while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $2.25, or 2.4 per cent, to settle at $92.09 a barrel. Both contracts gained more than 2 per cent on Thursday.

"We were pulling back a little bit after the big run-up yesterday," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group. Brent gained 3.4 per cent this week after last week's 14 per cent tumble on fears that rising inflation and interest rates will hit economic growth and demand for fuel. WTI rose 3.5 per cent.

Crews were expected to replace a damaged oil pipeline piece by the end of the day on Friday, a Louisiana port official said, allowing for the resumption of production at seven offshore US Gulf of Mexico oil platforms.
 

On Thursday, top US Gulf of Mexico oil producer Shell said it halted production at three regional deepwater platforms. The three platforms are designed to produce up to 410,000 barrels per day combined.

The Amberjack pipeline, one of two stopped by the leak, has restarted at reduced capacity, Shell spokesperson Cindy Babski said. She said that the Mars pipeline remained offline but is expected to resume operation later on Friday.
 

The market also absorbed contrasting demand views from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

"We are seeing an economic slowdown, but it's unclear if it's as big a slowdown as some of the recent outlooks have been predicting," said Ole Hansen, head of the commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

"The demand will ebb and flow, but supply is still the main concern." European sanctions on Russian oil are due to tighten later this year. A six-month coordinated energy release agreed upon by the United States and other developed economies will run its course by the end of the year.

On Thursday, OPEC cut its forecast for growth in world oil demand in 2022 by 260,000 barrels per day (BPD). It now expects demand to rise by 3.1 million BPD this year.
 

The IEA raised its demand growth forecast to 2.1 million BPD, citing gas-to-oil switching in power generation.

The IEA also raised its outlook for the Russian oil supply by 500,000 BPD for the second half of 2022 but said Opec would struggle to boost production.
 

In the United States, import prices fell for the first time in seven months in July, helped by a strong dollar and lower fuel and nonfuel costs,while consumers' one-year inflation outlook ebbed in August, the latest signs that price pressures may have peaked.

The energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said US oil rigs rose to 601 this week. The rig count, an indicator of future output, has been slow to grow, with oil production only recovering to pre-pandemic levels next year. - thedailystar

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