The air is being sucked out of the oil market, with prices collapsing on Friday in the face of dwindling volume and volatility — the lifeblood of crude traders.
West Texas Intermediate fell to near $80 a barrel, posting the biggest one-day loss since early June. Futures capped a second straight weekly decline. Volatility has remained near multi-year lows, while volumes were lower than the 10-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bearish sentiment across the broader commodity markets also weighed on oil.
Still, WTI’s prompt spread — the price difference between its two nearest contracts — is in backwardation. The bullish pattern signals demand is outweighing supply in the short term.
In broader markets, computer systems at businesses and public services were disrupted after a botched update of a widely used cybersecurity program took down Microsoft Corp. systems. The underlying cause of the issue has been fixed and oil futures continued to trade throughout the outage.
Crude is still higher this year, aided by OPEC+ supply restraint, a recent decline in US stockpiles, and expectations for lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve. In the near term, traders are also tracking wildfires in Canada that have threatened some supply and supported prompt pricing, though headline futures prices have struggled for direction of late.
Prices:
- WTI for August delivery fell 3.2% to settle at $80.13 a barrel in New York.
- Brent for September settlement fell 2.9% at $82.63 a barrel.