Crude oil prices settled at more than $40 a barrel Monday in U.S. trading while overseas it reached nearly $43 a barrel. For some producers, it might be the break-even point for them to start making a profit once again.
In March, the break-even price had dropped to $25 for some producers while a year ago, shale producers said the break-even price was $50. But things changed in a year as oil prices fell to negative territory at one point because of the coronavirus pandemic.
West Texas Intermediate July futures rose 71 cents or 2% in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at $40.46 a barrel.
Brent crude in Europe rose 80 cents or 2% to settle at $42.99 on the ICE futures. Natural gas prices were up one cent and settled at $1.66 per MMBtu.
Local oil companies saw little gain in trading of their shares. Chesapeake Energy dropped 3.3% or 43 cents per share to end the day at $12.34. ConocoPhillips fell 15 cents to finish the day at $43.56.
Devon Energy dropped 2% or 24 cents a share and finished at $12.70. SandRidge Energy slipped 2 cents to settle at $1.33.
EOG Resources added 12 cents to end the day at $52.42 while Marathon Oil dropped 9 cents or 1.42% to end at $6.27.
ONEOK added 75 cents or 2% to finish Monday’s trading at $35.92 while Phillips 66 fell 30 cents, ending at $74.40 a share.
American Electric Power shares were up 91 cents or 1.14% and ended the day at $80.62.
