Oil Energy Thread (oih)

[madrose1]

Oil prices fall below $62 a barrel


© 2006 The Associated Press

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SINGAPORE — Oil prices fell in sluggish Asian trading Monday amid mixed expectations for OPEC's meeting later this week. Forecasts for milder winter weather in the U.S. also depressed prices.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery dropped 31 cents to $61.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midafternoon in Singapore. The contract on Friday fell by 46 cents to settle at $62.03 a barrel.

January Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange slipped 20 cents to $62 a barrel.

Heating oil futures fell 1.13 cents to $1.7460 a gallon while unleaded gasoline prices declined 0.13 cent to $1.6200 a gallon. Natural gas prices dropped 17.2 cents to $7.389 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The market is somewhat uncertain what to expect from Thursday's meeting of the 11-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Some OPEC officials have been pressing in recent days for a cut in output on top of a production cut of 1.2 million barrels a day, approved in October, while others have indicated that with prices above $60 a barrel, the cartel was likely to refrain from cutting output at the meeting.

Some Saudi officials have expressed satisfaction with current price levels, but Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said recently that he was concerned about excessively high oil inventories in major consuming nations.

Recent data from the International Energy Agency showed stocks held among the 30 members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development at the end of September at 2.76 billion barrels, the highest level in almost eight years and 4.5 percent higher than a year ago.

Expectations of milder temperatures in the United States also weighed on prices. Temperatures in the Northeast, the nation's largest heating oil market, were expected to moderate this week, with above-normal temperatures through most of the nation, according to the National Weather Service.