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Volume 42 Issue 2
1. Oil Market
1. Prices
1-1Crude Oil Prices
Weekly average price of OPEC basket decreased during the first week of
December 2015, recording $35.8/bbl, and continued to decline thereafter, to
reach its lowest level of $31.3/bbl during the third week. During the fourth
week, weekly average price raised to $31.5/bbl, as shown in
figure 1
:
Petroleum Developments in the World Market and Member Countries
*
*
Prepared by the Economics Department.
Key Indicators
In December 2015,
OPEC Reference Basket decreased
by 17% or $6.9/bbl from the previous month level
to stand at $33.6/bbl.
World Oil Demand
in December 2015,
increased
by 2.3% or 2.2 million b/d from the previous month level
to reach96.9 million b/d.
World oil supplies
in December 2015,
increased
by 0.2% or 0.2 million b/d from the previous month level
to reach 98.8 million b/d.
US tight oil production
in December 2015,
decreased
by 1.9% to reach 5.1 million b/d, and
US oil rig
count
decreased
by 30 rig from the previous month level to stand at 474 rig.
US crude oil imports
in November 2015,
increased
by 2.3% from the previous month level to reach 7.4
million b/d, whereas
US product imports decreased
by
4% to reach about 1.6 million b/d.
OECD commercial inventories
in November 2015
remained stable
at the same previous month level of
2981 million barrels
,
and
Strategic inventories
in OECD-34, South Africa and China
remained stable
at
the same previous month level of 1853 million barrels.
The average spot price of natural gas
at the Henry Hub in December 2015
decreased
by $0.16/million
BTU from previous month level to reach $1.93/ million BTU.
The Price of Japanese LNG imports decreased
in November 2015 by $0.5/m BTU to reach $8.9/m BTU,
the
Price of Korean LNG imports decreased
by $0.2/m BTU to reach $9.5/m BTU, and
the Price of
Chinese LNG imports decreased
by $0.1/m BTU to reach $7.9/m BTU.
Arab LNG exports to Japan, Korea and China
were about 3.800 million tons in November 2015 (a share
of 33.9% of total imports).
Figure - 1
Weekly Average Spot Price of the OPEC Basket of Crudes 2014 - 2015
($/bbl)
On monthly basis,
OPEC Reference Basket in
December 2015, averaged
$33.6/bbl, representing a
decrease of $6.9/bbl or 17%
comparing with previous
month, and a decrease of
$26/bbl or 43.5% from the
same month of previous
year. Enduring oversupply
and the slowdown in
the Chinese economy,
were
major
stimulus
for the decrease in oil
prices during the month
of December 2015, to
their lowest levels since
December 2003.