By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Feb. 4 -- Oil futures prices surged on international markets Friday amid concerns that an explosion at a 280,000 b/d crude gathering center in a Kuwait oil field could disrupt that country's oil exports by 450,000 b/d (OGJ Online, Feb. 1,2002).
However, other observers claimed concerns about a possible disruption were overrated since repairs to the facility would take only a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the March contract for US benchmark light, sweet crudes gained 90¢ to $20.38/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The April position also increased 82¢ to $20.63/bbl. Both declined in after-hours electronic trading to $20.12/bbl and $20.41/bbl, respectively.
Unleaded gasoline for March delivery jumped 2.92¢ to 60.34¢/gal Friday on the NYMEX. Home heating oil for the same month also was up 2.15¢ to 55.31/gal. But the March natural gas contract was unchanged at $2.14/Mcf.
In London, futures prices for North Sea Brent oil crept closer to $20/bbl in late trading Friday on the International Petroleum Exchange on cautious optimism that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might agree to reduce oil production quotas again at their upcoming March meeting.
The US economy appears to be improving and the worst problems of sagging world demand for oil could be over within the next few months, said London brokers. If so, they said, another cut in OPEC production quotas could keep oil prices hovering around the $20/bbl level.
The March Brent oil contract gained 80¢ Friday to$19.98/bbl. However, natural gas for the same month dipped 0.3¢ to the equivalent of $2.89/Mcf
The average price for OPEC's basket of seven benchmark crudes rose 64¢ to $18.99/bbl Friday.
For the full week, that average price was up 38¢ to $18.30/bbl. So far this year, OPEC's basket price has averaged $18.33/bbl, up from a December average of $17.53/bbl. For 2001 as a whole, OPEC's basket price averaged $23.12/bbl.
