Oil prices down, $62.21 a barrel
Oil prices retreated from highs reached last week due to balmy weather, but stayed above $62 a barrel as blasts tore through two oil-company facilities in southern Nigeria.
Prices had risen steadily last week on renewed supply concerns as U.S. inventories fell and after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to cut output in February.
But mild weather in the continental U.S. and forecasts calling for more of it through the remainder of December weighed heavily on heating oil and natural gas futures, dragging crude-oil futures lower, too.
The decline was moderated by events in Nigeria, where the militant group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the blasts, warning before the explosions that it had planted three car bombs in the region of creeks and swamps where most of Nigeria's petroleum is pumped.
Two separate private security contractors, speaking on condition of anonymity citing prohibitions on speaking to reporters, said a blast hit an Agip residential compound in Port Harcourt and Shell oil reported an explosion at company facilities in the city where many foreign oil workers live.
Nigeria is the world's 12th largest oil producer and the fifth-largest supplier to the United States.
Some analysts have suggested the post-OPEC announcement surge could be the impetus that brings oil prices back above $70 a barrel. In mid-July, crude surpassed $78 a barrel, but then dropped back. The contract has been trading between $58 and $64 a barrel since early October.
Global crude oil inventories are still abundant, but many energy traders see any potential decline in supplies as a reason to bid up prices — especially against the backdrop of resilient consumer demand.
OPEC pledged to cut production in February by half a million barrels a day. By delaying action until 2007, OPEC left itself a window to decide against a cut, should demand spike higher due to a colder-than-expected winter or stronger-than-expected economy.
In its official statement, the cartel said it expects non-OPEC supplies to grow by 1.8 million barrels a day in 2007, the biggest one-year jump since 1984, and about 500,000 barrels per day more than anticipated global demand growth of 1.3 million barrels.
OPEC's decision followed the U.S. government's weekly report on Wednesday, which showed that inventories of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline fell last week. Crude oil inventories remain well above last year's level, but heating oil and gasoline inventories are now lower than where they were a year ago.
Prices had risen steadily last week on renewed supply concerns as U.S. inventories fell and after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to cut output in February.
But mild weather in the continental U.S. and forecasts calling for more of it through the remainder of December weighed heavily on heating oil and natural gas futures, dragging crude-oil futures lower, too.
The decline was moderated by events in Nigeria, where the militant group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the blasts, warning before the explosions that it had planted three car bombs in the region of creeks and swamps where most of Nigeria's petroleum is pumped.
Two separate private security contractors, speaking on condition of anonymity citing prohibitions on speaking to reporters, said a blast hit an Agip residential compound in Port Harcourt and Shell oil reported an explosion at company facilities in the city where many foreign oil workers live.
Nigeria is the world's 12th largest oil producer and the fifth-largest supplier to the United States.
Some analysts have suggested the post-OPEC announcement surge could be the impetus that brings oil prices back above $70 a barrel. In mid-July, crude surpassed $78 a barrel, but then dropped back. The contract has been trading between $58 and $64 a barrel since early October.
Global crude oil inventories are still abundant, but many energy traders see any potential decline in supplies as a reason to bid up prices — especially against the backdrop of resilient consumer demand.
OPEC pledged to cut production in February by half a million barrels a day. By delaying action until 2007, OPEC left itself a window to decide against a cut, should demand spike higher due to a colder-than-expected winter or stronger-than-expected economy.
In its official statement, the cartel said it expects non-OPEC supplies to grow by 1.8 million barrels a day in 2007, the biggest one-year jump since 1984, and about 500,000 barrels per day more than anticipated global demand growth of 1.3 million barrels.
OPEC's decision followed the U.S. government's weekly report on Wednesday, which showed that inventories of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline fell last week. Crude oil inventories remain well above last year's level, but heating oil and gasoline inventories are now lower than where they were a year ago.
posted by Ottawa Gas Prices | 11:06 PM
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