2023-03-28 17:50:20 ET
Energy ( NYSEARCA: XLE ) led the S&P sector standings by a wide margin Tuesday as crude oil prices extended gains on supply disruption risks from Iraqi Kurdistan and hopes the recent turmoil in the banking sector has been contained.
Front-month Nymex crude ( CL1:COM ) for May delivery settled +0.5% to $73.20/bbl, and May Brent crude ( CO1:COM ) closed +0.7% to $78.65/bbl, both hitting two-week highs.
U.S. natural gas prices continued lower, however, with Nymex natgas ( NG1:COM ) for April delivery ending -2.8% to $2.03/MMBtu, their lowest settlement since September 2020, weighed by forecasts for more moderate temperatures in much of the U.S.
ETFs: ( NYSEARCA: USO ), ( BNO ), ( UCO ), ( SCO ), ( DBO ), ( USL ), ( DRIP ), ( GUSH ), ( USOI ), ( NRGU ), ( NYSEARCA: UNG ), ( UGAZF ), ( BOIL ), ( KOLD ), ( UNL ), ( FCG )
U.S. crude climbed more than 5% Monday after Iraq was forced to halt exports of ~450K bbl/day from its Kurdistan region through Turkey after an arbitration decision confirmed Iraq's consent was needed to ship the oil .
Analysts at Barclays warned an extended disruption in Kurdish oil exports through the end of the year would imply a $3/bbl upside to their $92/bbl 2023 Brent price forecast for the full year.
A sustained recovery in Kurdish flows might depend on a resetting of oil revenue sharing terms between the Iraqi federal government and Kurdistan, which might be a complicated process, Barclays said.
Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) was Tuesday's top performer among major oil and gas stocks, +4.3% , after top shareholder Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 3.7M shares in recent days .
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Crude oil climbs to two-week highs, but natural gas sinks to 30-month low