Petroleum & Other Liquids
Petroleum Marketing Monthly | May 2012
Data for February 2012 | Release Date: May 1, 2012 | Next Release: June 1, 2012 | full report
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Monthly price and volume statistics on crude oil and petroleum products at a national, regional
and state level.
Highlights
Figure HL1. Crude oil and petroleum product wholesale prices
figure data
Highlights
Production levels along with international political and economic issues led world crude oil prices steadily higher in February. During the early days of the month, political tensions between Iran and the West over newly imposed economic sanctions remained at the forefront of market news. The controversy centers on Iran's nuclear fuels program and the contention that the program will ultimately be used to produce nuclear weapons. The sanctions, which are meant to prevent that outcome, elicited an Iranian embargo on oil exports to European countries later in the month. Oil production and supply issues from sources other than Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) also underpinned the rise in prices. An ongoing dispute between Sudan and the landlocked South Sudan over crude oil transit fees caused South Sudan to shut down all production activity at the end of January. EIA estimates the combined rate of oil production for the two countries averaged about 425,000 barrels-per-day in 2011, with a large portion of that amount being produced by South Sudan. Exports from these two countries amounted to 330,000 barrels-per-day in 2011, with most of the oil going into Asian markets. Additional upward pressure on prices came from political strife in Syria and an oil workers' strike in Yemen that curbed production and exports from both countries. Further price support came from production difficulties at North Sea fields that contributed to a lower rate of production and subsequent cargo loading delays from that region. Developments in the euro-zone debt crisis also underpinned prices. Greece's parliament passed strong fiscal austerity measures in mid-February, moving a debt restructuring plan for the financially beleaguered country forward. Prices reached their highest levels towards the end of the month when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported said Iran had continued its efforts towards uranium enrichment despite the United Nations Security Council's Resolutions associated with its treaty agreement with Iran on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. ...