By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Oct. 29 -- Energy futures prices were mixed Friday as traders awaited the almost inevitable rollback of oil production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Representatives from the OPEC member countries are meeting today in Vienna with their counterparts from seven non-member countries -- Angola, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Norway, Oman, and Russia -- in what is likely to be the prelude to a cut of 1 million bbl of oil at the regular Nov. 14 meeting of OPEC ministers.
Ali I. Naimi, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, earlier described the current session as a meeting of industry experts who "will distil the numbers and advise us on the size of the cut."
Western analysts claim it won't be easy for OPEC to impose another production cut in current market conditions without the help of at least some non-member producers.
The December contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes inched up 2¢ to $22.03/bbl Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the December contract gained 1¢ to $22.20/bbl.
However, both contracts rose in after-hours electronic trading to $22.50/bbl and $22.68/bbl, respectively, following a statement Saturday by Mohammed bin Hamad al Ramahi, Oman's energy minister, that his country is ready to cooperate with OPEC in reducing production to raise oil prices. Oman, the sixth largest non-OPEC oil exporter, is the first non-member to endorse the group's proposed production cut.
Meanwhile, home heating oil for December delivery dropped 0.88¢ to 62.36¢/gal during the regular NYMEX trading session Friday. Unleaded gasoline for the same month lost 0.25¢ to 58.32¢/gal.
But the December natural gas contract finally broke through the $3 barrier again, surging 10.3¢ to $3.04/Mcf Friday.
In London, the futures market for North Sea Brent crude ended the week with little change on the International Petroleum Exchange. With little fresh news out of Afghanistan, brokers said, that market is jaded.
The December Brent contract gained 1¢ to $21.02/bbl Friday. The November natural gas contract gained 1.2¢ to the equivalent of $2.91/Mcf on the IPE.
The average price for OPEC's basket of seven crudes lost 10¢ to $19.18/bbl Friday. For the whole week, however, the average basket price was $19.10/bbl, down from $19.31/bbl the previous week.
So far this year, the OPEC basket price has averaged $24.24/bbl, down from $27.60/bbl for all of 2000.
