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MARKET WATCH: Crude prices fall for fifth consecutive session

Oil & Gas Journal

In New Orleans, analysts at Pritchard Capital Partners LLC said crude futures prices weakened in after-hours electronic trading and were poised early Sept. 5 to post the biggest weekly drop in more than a month. "The front-month contract has shed nearly $9/bbl, or 7.6%, since Aug. 29, after it became clear that the US Gulf Coast oil infrastructure would escape Hurricane Gustav with minimal damage," the analysts said. Refined products also posted sizeable price losses in after-hours trading—"most notably heating oil," which dipped below $3/gal.

In less than 2 months, the front-month contract for reformulated blend stock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) has plunged 92¢ from the record-high $3.63/gal on July 11. "But while RBOB futures continue to deflate, gasoline differentials throughout the US cash market are soaring in the wake of Hurricane Gustav," Pritchard Capital analysts said.

After Gustav
As of midday Sept. 4, the US Minerals Management Service reported workers still had not returned to 527 of the 717 manned platforms and 63 of the 121 mobile rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. MMS said 95.2% of the oil and 87.5% of the natural gas normally produced from federal leases in the gulf remained shut in.