Market watch: Energy futures still sag on international markets

Energy futures prices continued to sag in international markets Thursday. The March contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes lost 14¢ to $19.64/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Feb. 8, 2002

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Feb. 8 -- Energy futures prices continued to sag in international markets Thursday.

The March contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes lost 14¢ to $19.64/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the April contract was down 12¢ to $20.02/bbl. However, both positions increased in after-hours electronic trading to $19.76/bbl and $20.15/bbl, respectively.

Home heating oil for March delivery dropped 0.85¢ to 51.94¢/gal on the NYMEX. Unleaded gasoline for the same month dipped 0.13¢ to 56.97¢/gal. However, the March natural gas contract inched up 4.9¢ to $2.15/Mcf.

In London, futures prices for North Sea Brent crude was little changed, holding above $19/bbl with the absence of any fresh significant bearish indicators. However, the first sign of increased inventories or lack of production discipline among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would destroy that market's fragile stability, analysts said.

The March Brent oil contract closed at $19.21/bbl Thursday, down 10¢ for the day after dipping as low as $18.85/bbl in earlier trading. The March natural gas contract also lost 3.5¢ to the equivalent of $2.59/Mcf on the IPE.

The average price for OPEC's basket of seven benchmark crudes was down 8¢ to $18.20/bbl Thursday.