Market watch: Energy futures prices are mixed in directionless markets

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Aug. 6 -- Energy futures were mixed in essentially directionless markets Friday, with some profit taking as short-term oil traders squared their positions prior to the weekend.

The September contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes dipped 9¢ to $27.62/bbl, and the October contract lost 4¢ to $27/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In after-hours electronic trading, the September contract dropped to $27.51/bbl, while the October contract was untraded.

Unleaded gasoline for September delivery edged up 0.05¢ to 77.65¢/gal, while home heating oil for the same month lost 0.63¢ to 72.62¢/gal. Natural gas fell below the $3/Mcf level again, with the September contract dropping 22.1¢ to $2.97/Mcf on the NYMEX.

However, a survey by First Albany Corp. of 38 large US natural gas suppliers indicated that US wellhead supplies of gas may actually be falling "perhaps by a percentage point or two," rather than increasing by 2% as previously predicted, said analysts Robert L Christensen Jr. and Michael Cohen in a recent report.

In London, the September contract for North Sea Brent crude dropped 44¢ to $25.69/bbl, while the October position was down by 26¢ to $25.84/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. The September natural gas contract gained 8.7¢ to the equivalent of $2.51/Mcf on the IPE.

The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven crudes gained 6¢ to $24.48/bbl Friday.

For the full week, however, that basket price averaged $23.74/bbl, up 26¢ from the previous week. So far this year, OPEC's basket price has averaged $24.79/bbl, compared with an average $27.60/bbl for all of 2000.