Market watch: Energy futures prices closed mixed ahead of Thanksgiving holiday

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Dec. 2 -- Energy futures worldwide closed mixed Wednesday and US oil markets were closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Traders said the market was waiting for the Dec. 8 deadline for Iraq to disclose a list of all its long-range missiles; chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; and other weapons programs to United Nations inspectors.

Meanwhile, UN inspectors this week continue looking through Iraq's military industrial complex for weapons of mass destruction.

Traders said oil futures prices were likely to climb upon nervousness this week because Wednesday is the deadline for extending the UN's oil-for-aid program for Iraq.

The January contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes gained 49¢ to $26.89/bbl Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the February contract was up 44¢ to $26.71/bbl. Unleaded gasoline for December delivery increased by 0.90¢ to 72.43¢/gal. Heating oil for the same month slipped 0.04¢ to 75.71¢/gal.

However, the expiring December natural gas contract lost 3.6¢ to $4.20/Mcf Wednesday on NYMEX.

In London, the January contract for North Sea Brent oil gained 40¢ to $25.25/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange.

The January natural gas contract inched up 0.9¢ to the equivalent of $3.89/Mcf on IPE.

The average price for OPEC's basket of seven benchmark crudes gained 52¢ to $25.33/bbl Wednesday.