Oil Prices Drop
Oil prices fell well below $60 a barrel Monday on forecasts of above-normal temperatures in the United States, a major consumer of heating oil and gasoline.
Indications that OPEC would decide against further production cuts at its meeting Thursday also pressed down prices.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery dropped 90 cents to $59.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. The contract fell by more than 2 percent on Friday to settle at $60.05 a barrel, thanks to weakness in heating oil. The Brent crude contract for April delivery declined 55 cents to $60.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
"The oil futures market has extended losses that happened during late trading on Friday," said Victor Shum of Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. Shum said heating oil futures were facing downward pressure exerted by the end of the winter season. "As oil prices have followed weather forecasts closely this year, expectations of lower heating oil demand weighed on crude prices," Vienna's PVM Oil Associates said.
Heating oil futures lost 2.5 cents to trade at $1.6871 a gallon while natural gas prices declined by 16 cents to $6.920 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Indications that OPEC would decide against further production cuts at its meeting Thursday also pressed down prices.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery dropped 90 cents to $59.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. The contract fell by more than 2 percent on Friday to settle at $60.05 a barrel, thanks to weakness in heating oil. The Brent crude contract for April delivery declined 55 cents to $60.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
"The oil futures market has extended losses that happened during late trading on Friday," said Victor Shum of Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. Shum said heating oil futures were facing downward pressure exerted by the end of the winter season. "As oil prices have followed weather forecasts closely this year, expectations of lower heating oil demand weighed on crude prices," Vienna's PVM Oil Associates said.
Heating oil futures lost 2.5 cents to trade at $1.6871 a gallon while natural gas prices declined by 16 cents to $6.920 per 1,000 cubic feet.
posted by Stock Administrator @ 10:32 AM
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