Track the daily price movements of oil on twitter!
Oil prices have risen $20.40 (
57%) within this time frame:
USO vs. ^DJI

USO vs. EURUSD=X

U.S. Crude Oil Inventories

Overview: Oil prices have been propelled higher by speculation that the economy may be recovering. However, there has been no clear indication that the recession has even bottomed out yet. The current price of oil is unjustifiably inflated as oil fundamentals have been mostly ignored:
May 15th (Friday) -
Oil plunges $2.28 to $56.34 a barrelThe reason: The IEA
announced
that global oil demand will fall by 2.56 million bpd to 83.2 million
bpd in 2009, the sharpest annual decline since 1981. Also, euro-zone
GDP
shrank more-than-expected in the first quarter.
May 14th (Thursday) -
Oil climbs 60 cents to $58.62 a barrel The reason: Wall Street
rose while the dollar weakened.
May 13th (Wednesday) -
Oil falls 83 cents to $58.02 a barrel The reason: An
unexpected drop in US retail sales in April overshadowed a 4.7 million barrel decline in U.S. crude inventories.
May 12th (Tuesday) -
Oil rises 35 cents to $58.85 a barrelThe reason: The dollar index
dropped to a four-month low while Wall Street
rose.
May 11th (Monday) -
Oil falls 13 cents to $58.50 a barrel The reason: Wall Street
fell while the dollar rose.
May 8th (Friday) -
Oil jumps $1.92 to $58.63 a barrel The reason: U.S. employers cut
fewer-than-expected jobs in April.
May 7th (Thursday) -
Oil rises 37 cents to $56.71 a barrel The reason: Initial claims for jobless benefits
fell more than expected for the week ended May 2nd.
May 6th (Wednesday) -
Oil surges $2.50 to $56.34 a barrel The reason: The EIA inventory report
showed a lower than expected build-up while
U.S. stocks advanced.
May 5th (Tuesday) -
Oil falls 63 cents to $53.84 a barrel The reason: Analysts expect tomorrow's EIA report to show a 2.2 million barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories.
May 4th (Monday) -
Oil rises $1.27 to $54.47 a barrelThe reason: Reports showed that pending sales of U.S. existing homes and spending on construction projects
rose in March.
May 1st (Friday) -
Oil rises $2.08 to $53.20 a barrel The reason: US consumer confidence and manufacturing jumped
to their highest levels since September 2008.
April 30th (Thursday) -
Oil rises 15 cents to $51.12 a barrel The reason: The Fed
stated on Wednesday that the economic outlook has "improved modestly" since last month.
April 29th (Wednesday) -
Oil rises $1.05 to $50.97 a barrel The reason: The Dow
rose and gasoline inventories fell 4.8 million barrels. Crude inventories, though, rose 4.1 million barrels.
April 28th (Tuesday) -
Oil falls 22 cents to $49.52 a barrelThe reason: Oil
continued to decline on swine-flu fears.
April 27th (Monday) -
Oil falls $1.44 to $50.15 a barrelThe reason: Oil fell on
fear that the swine-flu outbreak might impact fuel demand.
April 24th (Friday) -
Oil rises $1.93 to $51.55 a barrel The reason: Wall Street
gained while the dollar weakened.
April 23rd (Thursday) -
Oil jumps 77 cents to $49.62 a barrel The reason: Wall Street
gained while the dollar weakened.
April 22nd (Wednesday) -
Oil rises 30 cents to $48.85 a barrelThe reason: Oil prices
followed
Wall Street higher (NYMEX trading ends at 2:30 p.m.) despite the EIA
reporting a 3.9 million barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories.
April 21st (Tuesday) -
Oil rises 63 cents to $46.51 a barrelThe reason: Oil prices followed
Wall Street
and the euro higher. Analysts expect tomorrow's EIA report to show a
2.5 million barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories for the week ended
April 17th.
April 20th (Monday) -
Oil plunges $4.45 to $45.88 a barrelThe reason: The dollar
rose to a month-high against the euro while the Dow tumbled ~ 300 points.
April 17th (Friday) -
Oil rises 35 cents to $50.33 a barrelThe reason: China's refinery output
rose for the first time in five months, a sign that demand in China is possibly recovering.
April 16th (Thursday) -
Oil jumps 73 cents to $49.98 a barrel The reason: Oil prices followed Wall Street higher after jobless claims
fell more than expected for the week ended April 11th.
April 15th (Wednesday) -
Oil falls 16 cents to $49.25 a barrelThe reason: Oil prices fell only 16 cents despite U.S. crude inventories rising
5.6 million barrels last week, nearly triple what analysts expected. The highly bearish data was mostly offset by a ~ 100 point rise in the Dow!?
April 14th (Tuesday) -
Oil drops 64 cents to $49.41 a barrel The reason:
Retail sales slumped
an unexpected 1.1% in March. Analysts expect tomorrow's EIA report to
show a 1.9 million barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories for the week
ended April 10th.
April 13th (Monday) -
Oil falls $1.92 to $50.15 a barrel The reason: The International Energy Agency
lowered its 2009 global oil demand forecast on Friday by 1 million barrels to 83.4 million bpd, the lowest level since 2004.
April 9th (Thursday) -
Oil jumps $2.86 to $52.24 a barrel The reason: The Dow rose ~ 250 points after Wells Fargo
announced it expected to report a better-than-expected first-quarter profit of $3 billion.
April 8th (Wednesday) -
Oil rises 23 cents to $49.38 a barrelThe reason: U.S. crude inventories rose a less-than-expected 1.65 million barrels last week.
April 7th (Tuesday) -
Oil falls $1.90 to $49.15 a barrel The
reason: Analysts expect tomorrow's EIA report to show a 2 million
barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories for the week ended April 3rd. In
addition, Wall Street dropped nearly 200 points while the dollar gained
against the euro.
April 6th (Monday) -
Oil falls $1.46 to $51.05 a barrel The reason: Wall Street
slumped while the U.S. dollar
strengthened.
April 3rd (Friday) -
Oil slips 13 cents to $52.51 a barrel The reason: U.S. unemployment in March was
in-line with expectations despite rising to a 25-year high of 8.5%.
April 2nd (Thursday) -
Oil surges $4.25 to $52.64 a barrel The reason: World markets shot up after the
G20 agreed on a $1.1 trillion dollar stimulus. The euro also gained against the U.S. dollar after the European Central Bank decided on a
smaller than expected rate cut.
April 1st (Wednesday) -
Oil falls $1.27 to $48.39 a barrel The
reason: Oil prices fell despite the Dow rising 2% after the EIA
reported U.S. crude inventories rose a larger-than-expected 2.8 million
barrels last week.
March 31st (Tuesday) -
Oil jumps $1.25 to $49.66 a barrel The reason: With the help of a weaker dollar, oil prices followed
U.S. and
European
stocks higher. Analysts expect tomorrow's EIA report to show a 2.5
million barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories for the week ended March
27th.
March 30th (Monday) -
Oil plunges $3.97 to $48.41 a barrel The reason: Oil prices followed U.S. stocks lower after Obama gave GM and Chrysler an ultimatum:
restructure or face bankruptcy. In addition, the U.S. dollar rose against the euro.
March 27th (Friday) -
Oil drops $1.96 to $52.38 a barrel The reason: The U.S. dollar posted its
largest one-day gain in more than two months against the euro.
March 26th (Thursday) -
Oil jumps $1.57 to $54.34 a barrel The reason: The U.S. Commerce Department
downwardly-revised GDP for the last quarter of 2008 to -6.3%, less than the -6.6% analysts expected.
March 25th (Wednesday) -
Oil falls $1.21 to $52.77 a barrelThe
reason: The EIA reported that U.S. crude inventories shot up 3.3
million barrels last week, much more than the 1.3 million barrels
analysts expected. This brings the total count to 356.6 million
barrels, the highest since July 1993! The impact of this rise was
partially offset by U.S. gasoline inventories
falling 1.1 million barrels, new home sales rising in February, and a weaker dollar
due to Geithner's remarks.
March 24th (Tuesday) -
Oil rises 18 cents to $53.98 a barrel The
reason: Oil rebounded in anticipation of tomorrow's EIA report after
being down for most of the day due to a stronger dollar. Analysts
expect gasoline stockpiles to drop 500,000 barrels and crude-oil
stockpiles to rise 1.3 million barrels for the week ended March 20th.
March 23rd (Monday) -
Oil rises $1.73 to $53.80 a barrelThe reason: The Dow surged 500 points after the U.S. Treasury
unveiled its detailed plan to buy up toxic assets. Also, the National Association of Realtors
reported that existing home sales went up an unexpected 5.1% in February as prices plunged.
March 20th (Friday) -
Oil drops 55 cents to $51.06 a barrel The reason: The U.S. Dollar Index
rebounded after 8 consecutive days in the red.
March 19th (Thursday) -
Oil surges $3.47 to $51.61 a barrelThe reason: The dollar fell against major currencies
after the Federal Reserve announced its plan to inject around one trillion dollars in the economy.
March 18th (Wednesday) -
Oil falls $1.02 to $48.14 a barrel The
reason: Today's weekly EIA report showed that gasoline inventories rose
by 3.2 million barrels. Analysts expected a drop of 2.1 million
barrels.
March 17th (Tuesday) -
Oil rises $1.81 to $49.16 a barrel The
reason: Government data showed that the number of housing starts
surprisingly jumped by 22 percent in February, the largest percentage
rise since January 1990.
March 16th (Monday) -
Oil jumps $1.10 to $47.35 a barrel The
reason: In an interview with "60 Minutes", Ben Bernanke said that
"we'll see the recession coming to an end probably this year." This
optimism overshadowed OPEC's decision to keep output unchanged.
March 15th (Friday) -
Oil falls 78 cents to $46.25 a barrel The reason: An OPEC report released today showed world oil demand contracting faster than expected.
March 14th (Thursday) -
Oil surges $4.70 to $47.03 a barrelThe reason: Oil rose on
better than expected U.S. retail sales data and in anticipation of OPEC's meeting this Sunday.
March 11th (Wednesday) -
Oil plunges $3.38 to $42.33 a barrelThe
reason: U.S. crude inventories surprisingly increased 700,000 barrels
for the week ended March 6th as analysts had expected a drop of 1
million barrels.
March 10th (Tuesday) -
Oil drops $1.36 to $45.71 a barrel The reason: The U.S. Energy Department cut its world oil demand forecast for 2009.
March 9th (Monday) -
Oil gains $1.55 to $47.07 a barrel The reason: Oil hit a two-month high today on speculation that OPEC will cut more production when it meets this Sunday.
March 6th (Friday) -
Oil jumps $1.91 to $45.52 a barrelThe
reason: The dollar fell against the euro today, making oil more
attractive to foreign investors, as the U.S. unemployment rate jumped
to its highest level in 26 years.
March 5th (Thursday) -
OIl drops $1.77 to $43.61 a barrelThe
reason: Oil prices followed the U.S. stock market lower as the Dow
ended at a new 12-year low. Support also came after China announce it
will not add to its $586 billion stimulus package.
March 4th (Wednesday) -
Oil soars $3.73 to $45.38 a barrelThe
reason: Today's EIA report revealed a 700,000 barrel drop in crude
inventories for the week ended Feb. 27th. Analysts had expected crude
stocks to rise 2.2 million barrels. Additional support came from
speculation that China
will soon announce a hefty stimulus package.
March 3rd (Tuesday) -
Oil rises $1.50 to $41.65 a barrel The
reason: Oil prices rose despite more gloomy U.S. economic data after an
oil pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria
exploded.
Analysts expected tomorrow's EIA report to show a 2.2 million barrels
rise in crude inventories and a 600,000 barrel drop in gasoline
inventories.
March 2nd (Monday) -
Oil plunges $4.61 to $40.15 a barrel The
reason: Oil prices declined sharply today on demand worries as the Dow
dropped below the 7000 mark for the first time since 1997. In addition,
the U.S. Commerce Department reported that construction spending in
January fell to a four-year low.
February 27th (Friday) -
Oil slips 46 cents to $44.76 a barrel The reason: U.S. GDP for the last quarter of 2008 was downwardly-revised from -3.8% to -6.2%.
February 26th (Thursday) -
Oil surges $2.72 to $45.22 a barrel The
reason: The main oil supplier of the United Arab Emirates unexpectedly
announced today that it will cut 15%-17% of its April crude supplies to
Asia. Support also came from yesterday's EIA report which showed U.S.
gasoline demand rising.
February 25th (Wednesday) -
Oil rises $2.54 to $42.50 a barrel The reason: Today's
EIA report
revealed that gasoline inventories unexpectedly dropped 3.4 million
barrels and that crude inventories rose only 700,000 barrels. Analysts
had expected gasoline inventories to fall 100,000 barrels and crude
inventories to rise 2 million barrels.
February 24th (Tuesday) -
Oil jumps $1.52 to $39.96 a barrel The
reason: Oil followed US stocks higher after Ben Bernanke told Congress
that the nationalization of banks is unlikely and that the "severe"
recession could end this year. Tomorrow will be dictated by the EIA's
Weekly Petroleum Status Report as analysts expect crude inventories to
rise 2 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 20th.
February 23rd (Monday) -
Oil slides $1.59 to $38.44 The reason: Oil followed the
tumbling U.S. stock market today despite a
warning that OPEC will likely cut output when members meet next month on March 15th.
February 20th (Friday) -
Oil falls 54 cents to $38.94 a barrel The reason: Pessimism in the stock market spilled over into oil.
February 19th (Thursday) -
Oil surges $4.86 to $39.48 a barrelThe
reason: Today's weekly EIA report revealed a surprising drop in U.S.
crude inventories. Inventories fell for the first time this year,
declining 138,000 barrels. Analysts expected an increase of 1.8 million
barrels.
February 18th (Wednesday) -
Oil drops 31 cents to $34.62 a barrel The reason: Investors expect tomorrow's
weekly EIA report
to show an increase once again in U.S. crude inventories. Analysts
estimate an increase of 1.8 million barrels for the week ended Feb.
13th.
February 17th (Tuesday) -
Oil tumbles $2.58 to $34.93 a barrel The
reason: Gloomy data around the globe continues to weigh on investor
sentiment. Japan reported Monday that it is suffering its worst
economic downturn in 35 years.
February 13th (Friday) -
Oil shoots up $3.53 to $37.51 a barrelThe reason: The House approved Obama's economic stimulus package today as investors hope this can revitalize demand.
February 12th (Thursday) -
Oil slips $1.96 to $33.98 a barrelThe
reason: Investors are worrying that inventories will continue to
increase due to the overall lack of demand. This is the fifth
consecutive day oil has been down.
February 11th (Wednesday) -
Oil falls $1.62 to $35.94 a barrel The
reason: A weekly report from the Energy Information Administration
revealed a larger-than-expected rise in crude inventories for the week ended
Feb. 6th. Supplies rose 4.7 million barrels which surpassed the average
analyst estimate of 3 million. Crude inventories have gained in 18 of
the past 20 weeks. Lack of demand much?