Oil Prices Climb, Natural Gas Futures Dip

VIENNA, Austria – Crude oil prices extended their rise above $64 a barrel on Monday while natural gas futures dropped amid a mild start to winter in the United States.

Gasoline prices also eased but analysts suggested that relatively mild U.S. temperatures would keep demand high and stocks tight

Light, sweet crude for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 30 cents to $64.51 a barrel by afternoon in Europe. The contract gained $1.42 on Friday.

Brent crude climbed by 39 cents to $63.11 on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

Heating oil crept upward to $1.8050 a gallon. Gasoline slipped marginally to $1.81401 a gallon.

Crude prices had earlier in the day fallen to a low of $63.96, which some analysts said was likely a correction of the previous week’s sharp rise as the market remained amply supplied with crude.

But the outlook remained bullish, boosted by recent threats to supply, such as the natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine, in which Russia cut pipeline runs, raising fears about the stability of global supplies. Russia and Ukraine reached agreement to end their gas dispute.

“We can expect an overall high floor in prices this week,” said energy analyst Victor Shum with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

Analysts have said investors and speculators were pouring money into the market out of faith that demand will keep rising and that the possibility of energy supply disruptions from Iraq and Nigeria won’t soon fade.

“The hedge funds and speculators are quite gung-ho about the market so far this year,” Shum said. “Because threats of supply disruption will continue to be there and provide another year of volatility.”

Natural gas futures lost 4 cents to trade at $9.59 per 1,000 cubic feet, as a mild start to winter in the United States continued to keep prices under pressure, though the front-month contract hit a peak of $15.78 on Dec. 13.