Brent Crude Dated ($ per Barrel)
Price at Start of Month: $51.82 Price at End of Month: $52.80
Highest Price in Month: $52.97 Lowest Price in Month: $49.73
Pound £ to US Dollar Rate $ Exchange Rate FT:
Start of Month: 1.318 End of Month: 1.289
Kerosene (Heating Oil) Cargo Price $ per tonne
Start of Month: $516.50 End of Month: $541.00
Highest Price in Month: $541.00 Lowest Price in Month: $502.25
Resulting in a Heating Oil Price (Pence Per Litre) Monthly range: 2.24 ppl
Oil Market commentary:
This August prices have continued to rise, with a significant proportion of the rise being blamed on Storm Harvey. It’s the strongest storm experienced in the US since 2004 and it led to massive rain and flooding. As a result oil prices hit their highest levels since mid-2015 when the damage from the tropical storm shut over a fifth of U.S. refineries, curbing demand for crude while raising the risk of fuel shortages.
On the Tuesday after the storm nearly a quarter of U.S. refineries were not operating. This meant that U.S. output was down by 4.1 million barrels per day (bpd), with traders having to source refined products more widely so impacting the global price.
Market information avaliable from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market_data/commodities/default.stm