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Volume 41 Issue 12
16
1. Oil Market
1. Prices
1-1Crude Oil Prices
Weekly average price of OPEC basket increased during the first week
of October 2015, recording $47.2/bbl, and decline thereafter, to reach its
lowest level of $43.4/bbl during the fourth week, as shown in
figure 1
:
Petroleum Developments in the World Market and Member Countries
*
*
Prepared by the Economics Department.
Key Indicators
✍
In October 2015,
OPEC Reference Basket increased
by 0.4% or $0.2/bbl from the previous month level to
stand at $45/bbl.
✍
World Oil Demand
in October 2015,
increased
by 0.2% or 0.2 million b/d from the previous month level
to reach95.8 million b/d.
✍
World oil supplies
in October 2015,
increased
by 0.3% or 0.3 million b/d from the previous month level to
reach 98.4 million b/d.
✍
US tight oil production
in October 2015,
decreased
by 1.5% to reach 5.2 million b/d, and
US oil rig count
decreased
by 44 rig from the previous month level to stand at 520 rig.
✍
US crude oil imports
in September 2015,
decreased
by 4.2% from the previous month level to reach 7.3
million b/d, and
US product imports decreased
by
16.6% to reach about 1.9 million b/d.
✍
OECD commercial inventories
in September 2015
increased
by 13 million barrels from the previous
month level to reach 2988 million barrels
,
and
Strategic inventories
in OECD-34, South Africa and
China
remained stable
at the same previous month level of 1856 million barrels.
The average spot price of natural gas
at the Henry Hub in October 2015
decreased
by $0.32/million BTU from
previous month level to reach $2.34/ million BTU.
✍
The Price of Japanese LNG imports increased
in September 2015 by $0.5/m BTU to reach $9.6/m BTU,
the
Price of Korean LNG imports increased
by $0.4/m BTU to reach $9.6/m BTU, and
the Price of
Chinese LNG imports increased
by $0.2/m BTU to reach $7.4/m BTU.
✍
Arab LNG exports to Japan, Korea and China
were about 3.417 million tons in September 2015 (a share
of 32.2% of total imports).
Figure - 1
Weekly Average Spot Price of the OPEC Basket of Crudes 2014 - 2015
($/bbl)
On
monthly
basis,
OPEC Reference Basket
in October 2015, averaged
$45/bbl, representing a
slightly increase of $0.2/
bbl or 0.4% comparing
with
previous
month,
and a decrease of $40/
bbl or 47.1% from the
same month of previous
year. Enduring oversupply
and the slowdown in the
Chinese economy, were
major stimulus for the
remaining of oil prices
almost unchanged during
the month of October 2015,
to reach near-January lows.