{"id":216,"date":"2017-10-03T16:13:19","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T21:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pickettoil.wordpress.com\/?p=216"},"modified":"2017-10-03T16:13:19","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T21:13:19","slug":"oil-prices-bounce-back-in-third-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pickettoil.com\/store\/oil-prices-bounce-back-in-third-quarter\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil Prices Bounce Back in Third Quarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strong crude demand and signs of ebbing U.S. production led oil back into a bull market<\/h2>\n

\"Demand<\/p>\n

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Demand was a bright spot, following worries that damage from major hurricanes in the southern U.S. would crimp consumption. Above, a refinery in Ohio.<\/span>\u00a0PHOTO:\u00a0<\/span>LUKE SHARRETT\/BLOOMBERG NEWS<\/span><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By\u00a0Alison Sider<\/span>\u00a0and Amrith Ramkumar<\/div>\n

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15\u00a0COMMENTS<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Oil investors got a reprieve from falling oil prices in the third quarter, thanks to unexpectedly strong demand for crude and signs of ebbing U.S. production.<\/p>\n

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, ended the quarter 12.2% higher, snapping a two-quarter losing streak and marking the biggest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2016. U.S. crude futures\u00a0re-entered a bull market<\/a>\u00a0in September and are up nearly 21.5% from the lows in June. A gain of 20% or more signals the start of a bull market.<\/p>\n

Demand was a bright spot, even amid worries that damage from major hurricanes in the southern U.S. would crimp consumption.<\/p>\n

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The International Energy Agency raised its\u00a0forecast for demand growth<\/a>\u00a0for next year. At the end of March, global fuel demand was just 1.3% higher than the previous year, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management. By the end of July, demand grew 3.2% from the previous year\u2014the biggest year-over-year increase since 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was concerned that global demand for oil was weakening. As we\u2019ve moved through the year, it\u2019s actually strengthening again,\u201d said Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise Capital Advisors. \u201cUltimately consumers responded to lower oil prices, once again.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were also signs that U.S. output hasn\u2019t increased as quickly as some had expected, as producers contended with rising costs, slowing oil field activity.<\/p>\n