U.S. Rig Count Declines for First Time in Four Weeks
U.S. energy firms reduced the total number of oil and natural gas rigs...
U.S. energy firms reduced the total number of oil and natural gas rigs by one to 584 in the week ending November 15, marking the lowest count since early September, according to Baker Hughes. This puts the rig count 34 rigs, or 6%, below the same time last year.
Oil rigsfell by one to 478, their lowest since mid-July, while gas rigs also dropped by one to 101. The rig count has declined 20% in 2024 due to lower energy prices, rising costs, and a shift toward debt reduction and shareholder returns over production growth.
U.S. crude output is projected to rise from 12.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to 13.2 million bpd in 2024 and 13.5 million bpd in 2025, according to the EIA. The agency slightly raised its 2024 forecast but trimmed its 2025 outlook. Meanwhile, gas production is expected to dip to 103.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2024 from 2023’s record 103.8 bcfd, marking the first annual decline since 2020.
Earlier reductions in gas drilling followed a 32-year low in Henry Hub prices earlier this year, prompting producers to scale back spending.
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Crude oil posts loss for the week as looming surplus depresses market
Crude oil futures posted a loss for the week on Friday as a looming supply...
Crude oil futures posted a loss for the week on Friday as a looming supply glut and a strong dollar depressed the market. U.S. crude oil lost nearly 5% this week, while Brent has declined nearly 4%.
Here are Friday’s closing energy prices:
West Texas Intermediate December contract: $67.02 per barrel, down $1.68, or 2.45%. Year to date,, U.S. crude oil has shed more than 6%.
Brent January contract: $71.04 per barrel, down $1.52, or 2.09%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly nearly 8%.
RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.9493 per gallon, down 1.63%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 7%.
Natural Gas December contract: $2.823 per thousand cubic feet, up 1.36%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 12%.
The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.
A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged after President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.
U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday, capping off the...
U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday, capping off the worst week for the S&P 500 since early September. Creeping doubts about a December interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve helped interrupt a post-election rally.
Economic data on inflation and retail sales, coupled with comments from senior Fed officials about there being no big rush to cut rates, including from Chair Jerome Powell, weighed on investors' minds this week. Investors also cast a wary eye toward the Treasury market, as the yield on the 10-year note touched a six-month high earlier on Friday, FactSet data showed.
Here is where stocks finished, based on preliminary data from FactSet:
The S&P 500 closed down 78.55 points, or 1.3% lower at 5,870.
The Nasdaq Composite was down by 427.53 points, or 2.2%, at 18,680.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 305.87 points, or 0.7%, at 43,444.99
The amount of U.S. working gas in storage hit approximately 3.97 Tcf...
The amount of U.S. working gas in storage hit approximately 3.97 Tcf in the first week of November, rising above the five-year historical range tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the government agency reported Nov. 14. Hotter-than-average temperatures across the Northeast U.S. drove down demand.
U.S. natural gas inventories increased by 42 billion cubic feet last week to 3,974 Bcf, and were 228 Bcf or 6.1% above the five-year average for the week, the EIA reports. The injection into storage was roughly in line with the 44 Bcf average estimate in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts, and larger than the five-year average injection of 29 Bcf. As of next week, the EIA will use an updated survey sample for estimating gas storage, and will publish revised numbers for the weeks of September 20-November 8, on Monday.
Tropical Storm Sara closes in on ‘life-threatening’ and ‘potentially catastrophic’ impact with Central America
Tropical Storm Sara is unleashing heavy rainfall in northeastern...
Tropical Storm Sara is unleashing heavy rainfall in northeastern Honduras, with life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides anticipated this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Sara has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as of early Friday morning, and further strengthening is possible in the coming days if the storm center largely stays offshore from Honduras’ northern coast.
Sara, which formed Thursday afternoon as it closed in on the Honduras-Nicaragua border, is the 18th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. It’s a season that’s lived up to initial hyperactive forecasts and hasn’t played by the rules.
Tropical activity should be winding down in November, but Sara is now the third named storm this month thanks to exceptionally warm water wrought by climate change.
