Market watch: Energy futures fall on NYMEX, IPE

Energy futures again fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday. Crude oil prices fell on news that Kuwait will soon resume production from facilities recently shut in after an explosion.

Feb. 7, 2002

2 min read

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Feb. 7 -- Energy futures again fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

Crude oil prices fell on news that Kuwait will soon resume production from facilities recently shut in after an explosion.

The March contract for light, sweet crude fell 29¢ to close at $19.78/bbl, while the April contract fell 23¢ to rest at $20.14.

In after-hours electronic access trading, the March contract was fetching $19.74/bbl, while the April contract was trading at $20.03.

This week's American Petroleum Institute stocks report showed an unexpected 160,000 bbl drop in gasoline in storage from last week's 216,095,000 bbl. However, the March contract for gasoline still fell 1.42¢ to close at 57.10¢/gal. Home heating oil for the same month fell 0.9¢ to close at 52.79¢/gal.

Also on the NYMEX, the March contract for natural gas rose 2.7¢ to close at $2.101/Mcf.

Meanwhile in London, Brent crude oil futures settled lower on the International Petroleum Exchange.

Brent settled at $19.31/bbl, down 25¢ from the previous close. The day's high was $19.77 and the low $19.25.

Also on the IPE, the March contract fell 8¢ to the equivalent of $2.62/Mcf.

The price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven crudes stood at $18.28/bbl Wednesday, compared with $18.52 the previous day.