The US is running out of space to store crude oil

Del Pino is scheduled to meet Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi on Sunday as part of a tour of oil producers to lobby for action to prop up prices, which are close to their lowest since 2003.

While crude rallied 14 percent in the final two weeks of last month, it’s still down about 14 percent this year amid Iran’s effort to boost exports after the removal of sanctions and brimming US crude stockpiles.

Morgan Stanley on Thursday lowered its average 2016 Brent price forecast to $30 per barrel, down from $49 previously.

Many Oklahomans are accustomed to checking oil prices several times throughout the day, especially over the past year as the ongoing oil price collapse has weighed on local companies and operations.

“The weaker USA dollar provided some interim support to the commodity complex, but volatility in crude oil remains extreme”.

Late last week, the price of crude oil quickly spiked to over $34 a barrel on the rumor that Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia were in talks to possibly cut production by 5 percent.

United States benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in March fell 83 cents to $30.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Energy shares were mainly unchanged in pre-market trade on Friday as crude oil futures oscillated between slight gains and losses.

James Preciado, an analyst for the federal Energy Information Administration, said Thursday that 502,712,000 barrels of crude were in storage in the USA on January 29.

“Unknown investors in the VelocityShares 3x Inverse Crude Oil Exchange Traded Note (ETN) – which offers the ability to make a bearish bet on prices magnified threefold, with gut-churning ups and downs – bailed out early this week after jumping into the fund in January, ETN data show”, reports Reuters.

The oil market has witnessed another choppy week as traders tracked hopes of a coordinated output reduction by major world petroleum producers.

“Oil prices for the day will really depend on whether the dollar continues to weaken”, said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures, adding that US nonfarm payroll data due Friday will determine the currency’s strength. Gasoline inventories rose to a record high, soaring 5.9 million barrels to 254.4 million barrels.

In terms of demand, the federal government said this week US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 7.8 million barrels for the week.