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Oil price ending 2011 near US$100 a barrel
Source: Agencies |
December 31, 2011, Saturday
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THE price of oil soared in 2011 and will finish about 19 percent higher, on average, after a volatile year dominated by concerns about global supplies.
And high oil and gasoline prices are expected to continue weighing on the economy as it struggles to grow in 2012.
"It's like leaving the parking brake on while you're trying to drive the economy forward," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
Benchmark crude gave up 82 cents to finish at US$98.83 per barrel on Friday, the final trading day of the year.
Overall in 2011, crude prices averaged US$95.09 per barrel in New York. That's up from US$79.64 in 2010 and US$62.11 in 2009. The Energy Department expects prices to rise further in 2012 to an average of US$98 per barrel.
After starting the year at US$91.38 per barrel, oil prices jumped in February as an anti-government rebellion began in Libya. International oil companies pulled employees from the country as the fighting escalated, and oil production was essentially halted for several months.
About 1.5 million barrels of daily oil exports were cut off during the Libyan uprising. That's less than 2 percent of what the world uses, but with demand rising to 88 million barrels per day, every last drop mattered. Oil prices jumped 25 percent from the middle of February to the first week in March.
The price of benchmark West Texas crude rose as high as US$113.93 a barrel in April, then dropped to US$75.67 by October.
Prices are again flirting with US$100 per barrel following threats from Iran to close key shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf. Iran, which has been accused of trying to build a nuclear weapon, has been threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if the US and other countries target the country with new sanctions.
The waterway is a key route in and out of the Persian Gulf, used by tankers carrying one-sixth of the world's oil exports.
As oil prices rose this year, the global economy cut back on fuel consumption. A private survey released Friday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity slowed in December for a second month due to weak global demand amid US and European economic woes.
In the US, gasoline demand dropped by 2.5 percent overall in 2011, according to the Energy Department. Pump prices are down 72 cents per gallon since peaking in May near US$4 per gallon (US$1.05 a liter). On Friday the national average for a gallon of regular was US$3.269 (86 cents a liter), according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Analysts expect the average pump to rise to US$4 a gallon again by spring.
In other energy trading Friday, heating oil rose 1.75 cents to finish at US$2.935 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose by less than a penny to end at US$2.6863 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell by 3.8 cents to finish at US$2.989 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil that's imported by US refineries, fell 63 cents to end the year at US$107.38 per barrel in London.
And high oil and gasoline prices are expected to continue weighing on the economy as it struggles to grow in 2012.
"It's like leaving the parking brake on while you're trying to drive the economy forward," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
Benchmark crude gave up 82 cents to finish at US$98.83 per barrel on Friday, the final trading day of the year.
Overall in 2011, crude prices averaged US$95.09 per barrel in New York. That's up from US$79.64 in 2010 and US$62.11 in 2009. The Energy Department expects prices to rise further in 2012 to an average of US$98 per barrel.
After starting the year at US$91.38 per barrel, oil prices jumped in February as an anti-government rebellion began in Libya. International oil companies pulled employees from the country as the fighting escalated, and oil production was essentially halted for several months.
About 1.5 million barrels of daily oil exports were cut off during the Libyan uprising. That's less than 2 percent of what the world uses, but with demand rising to 88 million barrels per day, every last drop mattered. Oil prices jumped 25 percent from the middle of February to the first week in March.
The price of benchmark West Texas crude rose as high as US$113.93 a barrel in April, then dropped to US$75.67 by October.
Prices are again flirting with US$100 per barrel following threats from Iran to close key shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf. Iran, which has been accused of trying to build a nuclear weapon, has been threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if the US and other countries target the country with new sanctions.
The waterway is a key route in and out of the Persian Gulf, used by tankers carrying one-sixth of the world's oil exports.
As oil prices rose this year, the global economy cut back on fuel consumption. A private survey released Friday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity slowed in December for a second month due to weak global demand amid US and European economic woes.
In the US, gasoline demand dropped by 2.5 percent overall in 2011, according to the Energy Department. Pump prices are down 72 cents per gallon since peaking in May near US$4 per gallon (US$1.05 a liter). On Friday the national average for a gallon of regular was US$3.269 (86 cents a liter), according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Analysts expect the average pump to rise to US$4 a gallon again by spring.
In other energy trading Friday, heating oil rose 1.75 cents to finish at US$2.935 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose by less than a penny to end at US$2.6863 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell by 3.8 cents to finish at US$2.989 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil that's imported by US refineries, fell 63 cents to end the year at US$107.38 per barrel in London.
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