Market watch: Middle East tension buoys oil futures prices

Harsh words between US and Iraqi officials pushed up international oil futures prices Friday, although most traders doubt that a military conflict is imminent. The March contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes gained 27¢ to $21.50/bbl in a shortened session on the International Petroleum Exchange.

Feb. 18, 2002

2 min read

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Feb. 18 -- Harsh words between US and Iraqi officials pushed up international oil futures prices Friday, although most traders doubt that a military conflict is imminent.

The March contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes gained 27¢ to $21.50/bbl in a shortened session Friday on the International Petroleum Exchange ahead of the long President's Day weekend. The April contract also advanced 22¢ to $21.74/bbl. There was no after-hours electronic trading because of the Monday holiday.

Unleaded gasoline for March delivery added 0.83¢ to 61.09¢/gal with a report that Valero Energy Corp. was shutting down a Texas refinery for maintenance. Home heating oil for the same month rose 0.27¢ to 55.89¢/gal. The March natural gas contract inched up 2¢ to $2.21/Mcf.

In London, the April contract for North Sea Brent oil gained 5¢ to $20.87/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. The March natural gas position dipped 1.9¢ to the equivalent of $2.55/Mcf on the IPE.

The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes added 6¢ to $19.47/bbl Friday.

For the whole week, however, the OPEC basket price averaged $19.21/bbl, up 70¢ from the previous week.

So far this year, the OPEC basket price has averaged $18.48/bbl, up from an average $18.38/bbl during the fourth quarter of 2001. During all of last year, the basket price averaged $23.12/bbl.