Oil prices rise above $60 a barrel
Crude oil futures rose on Friday, partially recovering from a sell-off by some traders who were locking in gains made when prices surged earlier this week.
By Agencies |
SINGAPORE: Crude oil futures rose on Friday, partially recovering from a sell-off by some traders who were locking in gains made when prices surged earlier this week.
The front-month December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 24 cents to $60.60 a barrel in Asian electronic trading.
Traders said speculation in the market was that prices would climb, with winter demand for heating oil and natural gas expected to buoy energy prices in coming months, but that a stream of price-positive news is needed to lift prices higher.
Tom Bentz, a trader at BNP Paribas in New York, said there was no major news driving prices lower and that movement of money from the front-month contracts to later months was partly behind the drop Thursday, when the contract fell $1.04 to $60.36 a barrel.
It had settled Wednesday at $61.40 a barrel, the highest close since Sept. 29. That increase came after the US Department of Energy said inventories unexpectedly shrunk last week amid the highest demand for oil products since last December.
Cold weather increases demand for both natural gas and heating oil. Heating oil is most prevalent in the US Northeast, where nearly one-third of households use it as their primary heating fuel. Adding to support for crude oil prices is a growing view the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will implement more of the 1.2 million barrels of output cuts announced last week than previously thought.
On Friday, November heating oil gained less than half a cent to $1.7040 a gallon (3.8 liters) and front-month unleaded gasoline gained marginally to $1.5670. Natural gas dropped 9.7 cents to $7.4 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The front-month December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 24 cents to $60.60 a barrel in Asian electronic trading.
Traders said speculation in the market was that prices would climb, with winter demand for heating oil and natural gas expected to buoy energy prices in coming months, but that a stream of price-positive news is needed to lift prices higher.
Tom Bentz, a trader at BNP Paribas in New York, said there was no major news driving prices lower and that movement of money from the front-month contracts to later months was partly behind the drop Thursday, when the contract fell $1.04 to $60.36 a barrel.
It had settled Wednesday at $61.40 a barrel, the highest close since Sept. 29. That increase came after the US Department of Energy said inventories unexpectedly shrunk last week amid the highest demand for oil products since last December.
Cold weather increases demand for both natural gas and heating oil. Heating oil is most prevalent in the US Northeast, where nearly one-third of households use it as their primary heating fuel. Adding to support for crude oil prices is a growing view the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will implement more of the 1.2 million barrels of output cuts announced last week than previously thought.
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On Friday, November heating oil gained less than half a cent to $1.7040 a gallon (3.8 liters) and front-month unleaded gasoline gained marginally to $1.5670. Natural gas dropped 9.7 cents to $7.4 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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