- U.S. crude oil futures closed above $83/bbl in New York for the ninth straight weekly increase, the longest such winning streak since at least 1983, as rising consumption increasingly races ahead of supply.
- WTI crude for December delivery (CL1:COM) closed +1.5% to settle at $83.76/bbl, and December Brent crude (CO1:COM) finished +1.1% at $85.53/bbl.
- The front-month WTI contract jumped 2.6% for the week, while Brent posted a 0.9% weekly increase, but it was the ninth straight winning week for both benchmarks.
- ETFs: USO, UCO, SCO, BNO, DBO, USL
- Oil and gas sector stocks (NYSEARCA:XLE) also rose again for the week, +0.9%.
- Global oil inventory levels "remain tight as demand growth remains firm but production growth lags," IHS Markit analyst Marshall Steeves tells MarketWatch.
- The oil market is "correctly pricing very tight conditions, and conditions that will get tighter," BNP Paribas' David Martin tells Bloomberg. "We're going to draw stocks this quarter and next."
- Stockpiles at the Cushing storage hub, the biggest such facility in the U.S., are draining to critically low levels that could push crude prices even higher.
- The week's five biggest gainers in energy and natural resources: PBT +35.7%, NRP +22.2%, CNEY +21.9%, SJT +20.3%, BRY +19.3%.
- The week's five biggest decliners in energy and natural resources: ALTM -22.7%, DNOW -16.6%, NC -15.9%, KALU -14.8%, HPK -14.5%.
- Source: Barchart.com