Energy futures mostly advanced on international markets Friday, with home heating oil leading the rise on the New York Mercantile Exchange as traders squared their positions prior to the weekend.
Home heating oil also benefited from cold weather in Europe, where lower-than-normal temperatures are expected across the continent for the next couple of weeks.
The February contract for home heating oil gained 1.55� to 84.56�/gal on the NYMEX, while unleaded gasoline for the same month was up 0.65� to 88.55�/gal.
Benchmark US light, sweet crude for March delivery gained 41� to $29.77/bbl, while the April contract was up 34� to $28.77/bbl. In after-hours electronic trading early Monday, the March crude contract inched up to $29.88/bbl while the April contract was untraded, officials said.
Only the February natural gas contract showed a decline on the NYMEX, down 1.4� to $7.256/Mcf.
In London, the March contract for North Sea Brent oil settled at $26.98/bbl Friday, up 52� for the day, after trading as high as $27/bbl and as low as $26.20/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange.
The February natural gas contract gained 12� to the equivalent of $4.22/Mcf on the IPE.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries� basket of seven crudes lost 8� to $25.14/bbl on Friday.
However, for the week OPEC�s basket price averaged $25.41/bbl, up from $24.25/bbl the previous week.
So far this year, OPEC�s basket price has averaged $23.91/bbl, compared with average prices of $27.60/bbl for 2000 as a whole and $17.47/bbl in 1999.
