By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Nov. 2 -- Energy prices fell Monday as many speculators pulled out of the futures market, apparently sensing no further upside potential without a major change in market fundamentals.
However, some traders pointed out that the price drop was not particularly steep and met resistance below $50/bbl.
Moreover, the Nigeria Labor Congress and civil society organizations are to resume their suspended national strike Nov. 16 in protest of the 20% hike in domestic petroleum products prices that the government implemented in September. The strike was postponed to allow Muslims to complete Ramadan, union officials said.
Energy prices
The December contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes closed at $50.13/bbl, down by $1.63 for the day, after trading at $49.30-52.50/bbl Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The January position lost $1.59 to $50.01/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., declined by $1.63 to $50.14/bbl. Heating oil for December delivery dropped 5.65¢ to $1.41/gal Monday on NYMEX. Gasoline for the same month fell by 3.77¢ to $1.29/gal.
The December natural gas contract dipped by 0.5¢ to $8.61/Mcf on NYMEX, despite early buying on forecasts of colder weather in the Northeast and Midwest US later this week, said analysts Tuesday at Enerfax Daily.
In London, the December contract for North Sea Brent crude was down by $1.92 to $47.06/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes slipped to $43.31/bbl Monday from $43.39/bbl Friday. For all of last week, however, OPEC's basket price averaged $45.51/bbl, down by 53¢ from the previous week. As of Friday, OPEC's basket price this year has averaged $35.74/bbl, up from an average of $28.10/bbl for all of 2003.
