www.fuelmanagerservices.com then click on buy-additive
Crude-oil futures rallied Friday amid speculation that OPEC may cut its oil production, a move that would help stabilize plunging prices. However, Friday’s rally didn’t prevent oil from ringing up its seventh consecutive weekly loss.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December rose $1.61, or 2.2%, to settle at $75.82 a barrel. That was oil’s largest one-day gain since early September. On the week, oil declined 3.6%. Brent for January delivery on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $1.92, or 2.5%, to finish at $79.41 a barrel. On the week, Brent lost 5.4%, its eighth straight week of declines. Both Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude and Brent crude on Thursday settled at their lowest level since September 2010, and futures had traded lower early Friday, before reversing course.
Markets have worried that OPEC had not given any signs it would cut output when its members meet in two weeks in Vienna. Earlier this week, some analysts began to speculate OPEC may do just that. Ministers from OPEC members Venezuela and Iran have embarked on a diplomatic tour of other OPEC nations to build a consensus for higher oil prices ahead of the cartel’s Nov. 27 meeting. Analysts have said several OPEC member countries need higher oil prices to balance their government budgets.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill forcing the construction of the Keystone XL extension pipeline, and the U.S. Senate could vote on the bill as soon as Tuesday. The line would connect oil from tar-sands producers in Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, and from there to refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The controversial pipeline would likely not pass muster with President Barack Obama, who has called for completing the government’s evaluation of the project, first proposed in 2008.
Friday’s rally, however, may not be enough to change the broader direction of oil futures. An OPEC production cut seems likely, but the recent price lows have set back the timetable for oil’s price support, and futures would have to break above $85.50 a barrel to signal sustained higher prices, said in a report Tim Evans, an analyst with Citi Futures.