Brent crude oil price firms to $109 in choppy trading week

Brent crude oil prices close off a choppy week’s trading back near $109 a barrel as the spread between Brent and WTI oil contracts once again hits another record as traders search for clues on the market’s next move following Thursday’s market sell off.

Brent Oil Futures – Closing Price

ICE Brent crude oil futures for October 2011 delivery ended the week’s trading session at $109.03 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange, $1.13 higher than last weeks closing price of $107.90 a barrel.

Record Oil Spread

Choppy, uncertain trading pushed the spread between Brent and WTI to the widest level on record, with Brent oil futures at one point trading at a $26.41 premium to US WTI oil.

The contracts historically trade within $1 of each other, but supply bottlenecks this year have moved the markets apart.

“The market keeps going into uncharted territory. The volatility we’re seeing is really tough to get a grasp on.” said Gene McGillian, a broker and analyst with Tradition Energy.

Sell Off Effects

On Thursday, stock markets around the world tumbled once again following a weak report on economic activity in the US.

Oil prices have tracked movements in global stock markets in recent days, as traders focused on how the debt crisis in Europe and weak data from America would affect global growth.

More Trouble in the Middle East

Meanwhile, concerns of supply flow disruptions in the Middle East, triggered by a renewed escalation of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, may also be lending additional support to oil prices.

“The comparative weakness seen in WTI over Brent is due to two reasons: the underlying strength in the fundamentals of the European market due to the Libyan outage and North Sea issues, while the recent poor bout of economic data continues to weigh heavy on WTI, despite the falling level of stockpiles at Cushing, where WTI is priced.” according to Summit Energy analyst Matt Smith.

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Brent crude oil price firms to $109 in choppy trading week