Oil and natural gas prices remain down in ‘09

Update on April closings

Wendy Natt, May 01, 09.

While oil prices have risen slightly over the past month, natural gas prices remained down throughout April, and spot prices for both commodities are less than half of what they were in April 2008, according to these recent updates from the Greater Houston Partnership:

“The Friday closing price for Henry Hub natural gas averaged $3.48/MMBtu in April, down 65.4 percent from April ’08, the Energy Information Administration reported today. Gas prices have now been below $4 for two months, ending April at $3.31—the lowest Friday close since August ’02. Because nearly 80 percent of domestic drilling is gas-directed, prices this low create a disincentive to drill and place downward pressure on the number of working rigs, which ended last week 53 percent below the recent peak last September.”

“After 15 weeks of languishing in the $33-$47 range, the Friday closing spot market price for West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude oil, topped $50 per barrel in late March and remained there throughout April, ending the month at $50.65. For the month, the Friday close averaged $51.44, less than half the $113.11 average in April ’08 and more than 65 percent below the peak reached last August.”

See the full list of April 2009 Houston Economic Indicators from the Greater Houston Partnership.