By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Jan. 7 -- Energy futures surged again in international markets Friday as traders bid up prices after another bullish report of lower US petroleum inventories.
Data released Thursday by the US Department of Energy confirmed an earlier report by the American Petroleum Institute that US oil stocks declined by more than 2 million bbl during the previous week. Moreover, DOE reported US distillate stocks, including home heating oil, climbed by 60,000 bbl during that period, instead of the increase of 2.4 million bbl that API reported.
In London, the oil price increase outpaced the New York market in a move that could divert crude imports from the US, officials said.
The February contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped $1.25 to $21.62/bbl Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The March contract also was up $1.27 to $21.91/bbl. However, both positions slipped in after-hours electronic trading to $21.40/bbl and $21.77/bbl, respectively.
Home heating oil for February delivery shot up 2.59¢ to 58.6¢/gal during regular trading Friday on the NYMEX. Unleaded gasoline for the same month bumped up 2.39¢ to 62.84¢/gal. The February natural gas contract also inched up 0.7¢ to $2.28/Mcf.
In London, North Sea Brent oil futures surged to higher levels in a largely technical move during late trading Friday on the International Petroleum Exchange.
Brokers said prices easily broke through the $21/bbl barrier in anticipation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and five nonmember producers will live up to their pledges to reduce world oil supplies by more than 1.96 million b/d over the next 6 months. Technical buying in fairly thin trading then pushed futures prices through the next significant barrier of $22/bbl, they said.
The February Brent contract closed at $22.18/bbl, up $1.52 for the day after trading in a range of $20.90-$22.20/bbl Friday on the IPE. That rise outpaced the NYMEX, and the higher closing price could result in additional shrinkage of US imports, brokers reported.
The February natural gas contract gained 3.4¢ to the equivalent of $4.21/Mcf Friday on the IPE.
The average price for OPEC's basket of benchmark crudes rose 82¢ to $19.64/bbl Friday.
For the full week, however, that basket price averaged $18.76/bbl, up 75¢ from the previous week. For 2001 as a whole, OPEC's basket price averaged $23.12/bbl, down from $27.60/bbl during 2000.
Meanwhile, there were reports Monday that crude production in India declined by 1.9% to 21.2 million tonnes during the first 8 months of the current fiscal year, signaling further tightening of world oil markets.
