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RPT - Oil prices end near three-month high; natural gas drops
Wednesday, January 4, 2006 12:44:10 AM
http://www.afxpress.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - Crude-oil futures began the year on a higher note, closing above 63 usd a barrel Tuesday to mark their highest finish since mid-October, but natural-gas prices dropped to their lowest level in four months

Traders eyed developments in the Russia-Ukraine dispute that erupted over the weekend regarding natural-gas prices, a dispute that ignited concerns that Russia may use its energy resources as a political tool

"The US natural-gas market is essentially a North American market with almost all of the gas coming from the US or Canada," said James Williams, an economist at WTRG Economics. "This insulates our market from the European natural-gas market." But "if this Russia/Ukraine problem reduces natural gas to Europe there will be some fuel switching there" and "higher demand in Europe could drive up crude prices worldwide," he said. Against this backdrop, crude for February delivery traded as high as 63.80 usd a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a level not seen since Oct 13. The contract closed up 2.10 usd, or 3.4 pct, at 63.14 usd a barrel. February heating oil also climbed, gaining 2.66 cents to end at 1.7964 usd a gallon after trading at 1.855 usd, its highest since mid-December. February unleaded gasoline traded at a mid-October high of 1.793 usd a gallon before closing at 1.7505 usd, up 2.31 cents

http://futures.fxstreet.com/Futures/news/afx/singleNew.asp?menu=latestnews&pv_noticia=1136335448...