Winter Blast in US Raises Oil Prices
Oil prices rose Monday following a blast of winter in the United States.
An unusually warm winter in the United States and numbers showing growing crude inventories had dragged oil prices below US$50 a barrel last Thursday.
But over the weekend, snow, sleet and freezing rain hit the U.S. East Coast, and winds up to 60 mph (95 kph) piled snow into drifts as high as 3 feet (90 centimeters) in parts of Colorado.
It’s the falling temperature in the U.S. Northeast that has prompted market participants to speculate that higher fuel demand will stamp out the high U.S. inventories.
Crude oil rose 74 cents to $52.73 a barrel at midday in Europe. The contract, which rose $1.51 Friday to settle at $51.99 a barrel.
Perhaps the cold weather came a little too late, there aren’t too many cold winter weeks left, but it is providing for a little psychological boost.
Still, analysts say the downtrend in the price of crude is far from over.
An unusually warm winter in the United States and numbers showing growing crude inventories had dragged oil prices below US$50 a barrel last Thursday.
But over the weekend, snow, sleet and freezing rain hit the U.S. East Coast, and winds up to 60 mph (95 kph) piled snow into drifts as high as 3 feet (90 centimeters) in parts of Colorado.
It’s the falling temperature in the U.S. Northeast that has prompted market participants to speculate that higher fuel demand will stamp out the high U.S. inventories.
Crude oil rose 74 cents to $52.73 a barrel at midday in Europe. The contract, which rose $1.51 Friday to settle at $51.99 a barrel.
Perhaps the cold weather came a little too late, there aren’t too many cold winter weeks left, but it is providing for a little psychological boost.
Still, analysts say the downtrend in the price of crude is far from over.
posted by Ottawa Gas Prices | 9:58 PM
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