Sam Fletcher
Senior Writer
HOUSTON, Jan. 21 -- After falling for 3 days, crude futures prices made modest gains Jan. 18 on the New York market after the White House announced a package aimed at stimulating the troubled US economy.
Analysts and investors appeared to have little faith in the proposed stimulus package, but traders may have found an excuse to buy crude futures after the recent drop in prices. At any rate, the front-month contract still maintained support above $90/bbl.
The February contract gained 44¢ to $90.57/bbl Jan. 18 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The March contract increased 35¢ to $89.92/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., was up 44¢ to $90.58/bbl. The February contract for reformulated blend stock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) escalated by 3.66¢ to $2.30/gal on NYMEX. Heating oil for the same month inched up 0.39¢ to $2.51/gal.
The February natural gas contract lost 8.8¢ to $7.97/MMbtu on NYMEX. On the US spot market, however, gas at Henry Hub, La., bumped up 16.5¢ to $8.39/MMbtu.
In London, the March IPE contract for North Sea Brent crude advanced 48¢ to $89.23/bbl. The February gas oil contract gained $3.50 to $789.50/tonne.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of 12 reference crudes increased 24¢ to $86.06/bbl on Jan. 18. With last week's declines, OPEC's average basket price is now down to $89.94/bbl, compared with $69.10/bbl for all of 2007.
Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected].
