Sam Fletcher
Senior Writer
HOUSTON, Jan. 11 -- Energy prices were mixed Jan. 10, with the near-month crude futures hitting the highest level since Dec. 1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing the session at a slight loss.
The US market was spurred by new forecasts of cold weather through February and by continued violence in Iraq and weather disruptions of crude production in the North Sea. Even in the Gulf of Mexico, some 145,000 b/d of light crude production is still shut in as a result of Hurricane Ivan that hit the central gulf in mid-September.
With members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries having moved quickly to curb overproduction this month and talk that they may reduce production further at their Jan. 30 meeting, some traders are becoming concerned about crude supplies through the rest of the winter. However, they apparently lack confidence in the sustainability of last week's price rally in the future's market.
Energy prices
The February contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes climbed to a nearly 6-week high of $47.30/bbl in Jan. 10 trading on NYMEX before closing at $45.33/bbl, down 10¢ for the day. The March position retreated by 8¢ to $45.57/bbl. But on the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., increased by 10¢ to $45.54/bbl. Heating oil for February delivery ratcheted up as high as $1.35/gal on NYMEX but fell back to $1.28/gal at the close of the session, up 0.3¢ for the day. Gasoline for the same month dipped by 0.58¢ to $1.2084/gal.
The February natural gas contract bumped up by 15.8¢ to $6.16/MMbtu on NYMEX, "paring sharp early gains [through] late selling after a steep slide in crude oil prices was offset by colder weather forecasts for late this week," said analysts at Enerfax Daily. "Mild weather in the Midwest and Northeast this week is expected to come to an abrupt halt by the end of the week as a blast of cold Canadian arctic air sweeps south. Long-range forecasters have said the end of January and the whole month of February could bring colder-than-normal readings after a mild November and December," they said.
In London, the February contract for North Sea Brent crude lost 26¢ to $42.92/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange.
The average price for OPEC's basket of seven benchmark crudes increased by 77¢ to $40.12/bbl on Jan. 10.
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