Market watch: Energy prices fall while heating oil rises slightly
By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Apr. 12 -- Energy prices, except for home heating oil, slipped in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the international markets Wednesday while weekly inventory reports showed a build in crude and gasoline levels.
Home heating oil for May delivery rose by 0.45� to finish at 79.59�/gal while unleaded gasoline slipped by 0.1� to $1.0241/gal.
The May contract for benchmark US light, sweet crude fell by 30� to end at $28.18/bb, while the June contract dropped by 19� to close at $28.49/bbl. But in after-hours electronic trading, the benchmark crude rose to $28.37/bbl for May and $28.61.bbl for June.
Adam Sieminski, global oil strategist for Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, Baltimore, said Wednesday that even if there were a recession, prices would not drop drastically. If global gross domestic production drops from a 3% gain to a 2% gain, Sieminski said benchmark US light, sweet crude would hover slightly above $20/bbl for the second half of the year and natural gas would be about $4/Mcf.
The US Energy Information Administration said US crude stocks gained 3.9 million bbl last week, confirming the American Petroleum Institute�s report of a 4.7 million bbl build in crude inventories.
Natural gas for May delivery dropped 17.4� to $5.385/Mcf on NYMEX.
API reported gasoline inventories built slightly in the week ended Apr. 6 after a large fall the previous week. Inventories gained 300,000 bbl to close at 192.5 million bbl. Reformulated gasoline inventories climbed even more, rising 1.3 million bbl.
Still, both total gasoline inventories and reformulated gasoline inventories remain below average for this time of year, by 7% and 9% respectively.
In London, North Sea Brent crude futures on the International Petroleum Exchange settled at $26.53/bbl, down by 1� from the previous close. The day�s high was $26.75 and the low was $26.25/bbl.
On the IPE, the May natural gas contract settled at the equivalent of $3.33/Mcf, up 4�.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries� basket of crudes rose 28� to $25.15/bbl Wednesday.
