MARKET WATCH: NYMEX oil prices rally on IEA comments

Crude oil prices rallied by more than $2/bbl on the New York market Jan. 16, which analysts attributed to comments from the International Energy Agency in Paris about a possible oil price rebound later this year along with traders buying in advance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 19.

Commerzbank issued a note saying the long-term direction of the oil market remained uncertain.

“We can expect the huge price fluctuations to say with us for the time being,” Commerzbank said.

IEA said it was seeing signs of a price recovery although it might not be imminent. A rebalancing of the market might “begin to occur” in the second half, IEA said in its Oil Market Report for January.

Energy prices

The NYMEX February crude oil contract gained $2.44 on Jan. 16, closing at $48.69/bbl. The March contract climbed $2.40 to $49.13/bbl.

The natural gas contract for February was down 3¢ to a rounded $3.13/MMbtu. The cash gas price at Henry Hub, La., dropped 20¢ to $3.09/MMbtu on Jan. 16. US gas prices fell after forecasters said below-normal temperatures for much of the US appears to be ending, at least for now.

Heating oil for February was up 4¢ to a rounded $1.66/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for February rose nearly 6¢ to a rounded $1.36/gal.

The March ICE contract for Brent crude oil climbed $1.90 to settle at $50.17/bbl. The April contract gained $1.91 to $51.47/bbl. The ICE gas oil contract for January was down 75¢ to $472.75/tonne.

The average price for OPEC’s basket of 12 benchmark crudes on Jan. 16 was $43.40/bbl, up 26¢ from the previous day.

Contact Paula Dittrick at paulad@ogjonline.com.

*Paula Dittrick is editor of OGJ’s Unconventional Oil & Gas Report.