WTI/Brent Spread; WTI and Bakken Light Sweet Nears Parity At Clearbrook, MN

Updates

Later, 3:14 pm: CNBC is suggesting that oil is up a solid 50 cents today because the Nebraska governor has approved the new Keystone XL route. Even if President Obama approved the pipeline today, it would have no effect on earnings of any oil company for at least a year, except possibly negative earnings for TransCanada who is paying to build it. The price oil went up today for reasons completely unrelated to the Keystone. A lot is going to happen between today and the day the first Alberta oil sees Cushing via the extra-large Keystone pipeline. TransCanada is actually trading lower after the announcement. TransCanada investors are aware this is going to be a huge expense of TransCanada and there are at least two more environmental fights left to go.

Original Post

WTI: $95.70
Brent: $112.07

Bloomberg. Dynamic. 9:38 est Tuesday. Spread: $16. So much for the huge change that some folks predicted with the Seaway expansion AND reversal.

I track the spread here.

However, the spread between WTI and Bakken light, sweet oil narrows, now down to $3.25, which in the big scheme of things is parity. And that's probably a direct effect of increased takeaway out of the Bakken.

So, how's the market doing at midday? Wow, the price of oil keeps melting up, up another $0.60 and solidly above $96, and as noted above, WTI and Bakken near parity at Clearbrook.

• Union Pacific Railroad trading at new 52-week highs. In fact, all-time highs.
• BRK-B also hits another high.
• CVX up a bit, approaching its 52-week high.
• SRE hits another all-time high.
• EPD hits an all-time high. EEP is up almost 2% on a day that Keystone XL route is approved by Nebraska governor.
• COP and PSX not at new 52-weeks high but doing very well.
• The Bakken-centric operators flat to down, most likely due to expected decreased production during cold December month. Later, it looks like OAS hit an all-time high.
• An exception: EOG hit a new 52-week high, but but a significant pullback; and I don't see any news regarding EOG except it was one of Cramer's six sixty-second stocks, which some associate with "the kiss of death."
• T and VZ both up despite announcing huge write-offs in 4Q12 for pension-related costs.  
• BAX flirting with all-time highs.