Oil Prices Slip Below 64 Dollars

Oil prices slip below 64 dollars

NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) — Crude prices fell below 64 dollars a barrel Monday amid worries that higher-than-normal U.S. temperatures may reduce heating-fuel consumption.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, lost 76 cents to 63.45 dollars per barrel in a pit trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery declined 86 cents to 62.00 dollars per barrel in electronic dealing.

The National Weather Service said the Northeast and Midwest will continue to enjoy above-average temperatures from Jan. 14 to Jan. 18. Mild weather helped increase stockpiles of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity and heat, for the week ended Dec. 30. Inventories are 2.641 trillion cubic feet, 6.8 percent above the five-year average, according to the Energy Department.

In a longer term, the funds are focusing on rising demand for gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel. Gasoline demand over the past four weeks has averaged 9.3 million barrels per day, or one percent above the same period last year, according to the Energy Department’s weekly petroleum report. Demand for heating oil and diesel has risen 4.1 percent, or 4.3 million barrels per day, over the past month.

Oil prices have risen more than 10 percent last week, largely owing to a Russia-Ukraine gas price dispute that was resolved Wednesday.

Crude prices climbed 40 percent and natural gas prices soared 94 percent in 2005 after hurricanes closed platforms and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.