Sam Fletcher
Senior Writer
HOUSTON, Feb. 4 -- Futures prices for crude and petroleum products fell in profit taking Tuesday, as traders shrugged off previous worries over recent disruptions at three US refineries.
Besides cashing in on Monday's price rally (OGJ Online, Feb. 3, 2004), traders were waiting for the US Energy Information Administration to release the latest data on US inventories early Wednesday. US stocks of crude and petroleum products are at historic lows, but traders were expecting a bearish build of 500,000-1 million bbl for the week ended Jan. 30.
Prices fall
Heating oil for March delivery plunged by 3.06¢ to 91.42¢ Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, wiping out gains from the previous session. Gasoline for the same month lost 1.58¢ to $1.002/gal.
The March contract for benchmark US crude fell by 88¢ to $34.10/bbl Tuesday on NYMEX after spiking by $1.93/bbl Monday in the biggest 1-day price gain for a crude futures contract in more than 3 years (OGJ Online, Feb. 3, 2004). The April contract was down by 66¢ to $32.82/bbl Tuesday. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., fell by 85¢ to $34.13/bbl.
However, the March natural gas contract increased by 7.7¢ to $5.65/Mcf Tuesday on NYMEX, "lifted by colder forecasts for next week and some technical buying after last week's 11% [price] slide," said analysts Wednesday at Enerfax Daily.
"Most traders agreed the market was technically oversold and due for a bounce after last week's steep slide, particularly with [speculative] funds short [with an excess of open sales over open purchases] ahead of a weekly storage report likely to show a 200-plus bcf decline, the biggest of the heating season," analysts reported. That report is scheduled for release early Thursday.
In London, the March contract for North Sea Brent crude lost 73¢ to $29.50/bbl Tuesday on the International Petroleum Exchange. Gas oil for February delivery declined by $4.25 to $260.50/tonne. The March natural gas contract slipped by 6.6¢ to the equivalent of $3.96/Mcf on IPE.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes increased by 13¢ Tuesday to $29.19/bbl.
Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected]
