U.S. crude oil, natgas post back-to-back gains on supply data, rate cut hopes

U.S. crude oil futures rose to their highest levels in a week on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session sparked by data showing slowing U.S. inflation and weekly storage data that pointed to a decline in domestic oil inventories.

the The smaller-than-expected rise in the US CPI for April “sent the dollar lower to the 200-day moving average, boosting commodity markets across the board,” says the energy team at StoneX, led by Alex Hodes. At StoneX led by Alex Hodes. Market monitoring.

Financial markets have “placed most bets on a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve, which will continue to ease the strength of the dollar and shift that strength to commodities and stocks,” StoneX He says.

Meanwhile, US natural gas prices also rose for the second day in a row, as domestic storage rose slightly less than expected, with an increase of 70 Bcf for the week ending March 10.

the natgas pool It's also supported by “strong flows of 1.9 Bcf last week at Freeport LNG, much lighter year-over-year production, bouts of early heat in Texas,” and expectations of a steady decline in surplus inventory that remains high, according to NatGasWeather.com. According to the Dow Jones Index.

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM) closed for June delivery +0.7% To $79.23 a barrel, its best settlement in a week, Brent crude for the month of July closed (CO1:COM). +0.6% To $83.27 per barrel.

June Nymex Natural Gas (NG1:COM) shares also closed sooner +3.3% to $2.495 per million British thermal units, the highest settlement value since January 26.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:use), (BNO), (UCO), (SCO), (USL), (DBO), (DRIP), (GUSH), (NRGU), (USOI), (UNG), (BOIL), (COLD), (UNL), (FCG)

More than 2 million barrels per day of oil sands production At risk from wildfires in AlbertaWith some areas issuing evacuation orders to communities, Rystad Energy said, as reported by Dow Jones.

While oil sands operators have not yet indicated any impact on production or upgrading activities, an out-of-control fire along the Athabasca River intersects critical midstream infrastructure serving the Horizon and Syncrude mining and upgrading projects, according to Rystad.

However, the consulting firm also notes that a significant amount of planned maintenance is scheduled for May, which is typical as the industry ramps up production in the high-demand North American summer driving season.