Oil: What You Need to Know

From Crude Oil Tumbles Below $70 a Barrel (Oct. 16):

November-dated futures dropped $4.69 to $69.85 in New York and have now slid more than 50% since the all-time high that was reached in July. Oil hasn't been below $70 in more than a year.

Read the full version of Crude Oil Tumbles Below $70 a Barrel.

From Oil Soars 20% Ahead of Expiration (Sept. 22):

Crude oil futures pulled off their greatest one-day price climb at the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday [Sept. 22].

By 2 p.m. EDT, the October WTI contract was up roughly $7 a barrel to about $113 a barrel. Then, prices suddenly launched above $130 in the most intense 15 minutes of buying that oil markets have ever experienced. At that point, the Nymex briefly halted trading of that particular contract.

Short-sellers, who were forced to cover their positions ahead of the looming expiration of the October WTI contract, served as the nitrous oxide that propelled already revving crude oil markets into overdrive.

October WTI crude oil ultimately closed up $16.37, or more than 15%, at $120.92, while the November WTI contract rose $6.62 to $109.37 a barrel. Brent crude oil rose $6.43 to $106.09 on the ICE exchange.

Unlike most futures markets for other assets, energy markets at the Nymex are physical markets in which raw energy commodities are delivered to those who are in possession of futures contracts when they expire. This attribute nearly always creates a situation in which energy futures spike in value and then quickly slide down again immediately before they are set to expire.

Read the full version of Oil Soars 20% Ahead of Expiration.

TheStreet.com Reload: Looking Back at Oil

From Oil Sinks to $100:

Light, sweet crude for October delivery slid $1.71 to settle at $100.87 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest close in about five months. The decline came as the dollar rose against both the euro and pound Thursday [Sept. 11].

As Hurricane Ike heads toward Texas and the state's crude oil and refining operations, Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote - Cramer on XOM - Stock Picks) shut down its suburban Houston plant in Baytown, the nation's largest refinery, according to a Reuters report that quoted an Exxon spokesperson. The stock slipped 0.5% to $75.64.

Trading in the opposite direction, Brazil-based Petrobras (PBR Quote - Cramer on PBR - Stock Picks) shares climbed more than 6% after the company reported that one of its fields contains between 3 billion and 4 billion barrels of oil.

Read the full version of Oil Sinks to $100. (Note: Sept. 12, crude oil closed at $101.18 a barrel.)

From Crude Oil Futures Drop Below $105:

Crude for October delivery was recently [midday Sept. 9] down $2.16 at $104.18 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude was losing $2.25 to $101.19 a barrel.

Contributing to the decline in oil futures were remarks from the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, both members of OPEC, that the group wasn't likely to lower production in the near future.

Also bearish for crude were forecasts showing that [Hurricane] Ike has lost some of its strength and is now believed to be on a track that will keep it south of much of the petroleum infrastructure operating in and along the Gulf.

Read the full version of Crude Oil Futures Drop Below $105. (Note: Sept. 9, crude oil closed at $103.26 a barrel.)

From Cramer: China's Gone, So Oil's Headed Lower:

It ain't a hurricane that controls oil. It is China. It isn't terrorism that controls oil. It is China. It isn't the lack of new finds that controls oil. It is China.

I urge people to recognize that the speculators certainly accentuated and exacerbated any moves in oil that might have been bullish, but the underlying bullish tendency was because of China, not any of the extraneous issues.

Read the full version of Cramer: China's Gone, So Oil's Headed Lower.

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