By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 3 -- Energy futures prices increased slightly Friday, as markets in New York and London corrected from the previous day's overcorrections.
In the absence of any major news, traders realized they had reacted too bearishly Thursday to the latest reports of US inventories, analysts said.
The July contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes gained 64¢ to $25.31/bbl Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the August contract was up 54¢ to $25.39/bbl. However, both positions retreated in after-hours electronic trading to $25.16/bbl and $25.26/bbl, respectively.
Heating oil for June delivery edged up 0.82¢ to 62.97¢/gal during Friday's regular NYMEX trading session. Unleaded gasoline for the same month increased 0.47¢ to 73.83¢/gal. However, the July natural gas contract slipped 0.5¢ to $3.22/Mcf.
In London, futures prices for North Sea Brent oil rose as traders bought to cover short positions ahead of a long weekend, with the International Petroleum Exchanged closed Monday and Tuesday for public holidays.
The July Brent contract gained 40¢ to $24.45/bbl Friday. However, brokers claimed there's no fundamental justification for such a rally and predicted that Friday's gains may be quickly lost Wednesday when trading in that market resumes.
Meanwhile, the July natural gas contract rose 1.3¢ to the equivalent of $1.81/Mcf on IPE.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes gained 19¢ to $23.45/bbl Friday.
For the full week, however, that basket price averaged $23.80/bbl, down from a revised average of $24.55/bbl the previous week, said OPEC officials. So far this year, the OPEC basket price has averaged $21.87/bbl, compared with an average price of $23.12/bbl for all of 2001.