Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Oil hovers below $100 amid low holiday volume

SINGAPORE (AP) - Oil prices hovered below $100 a barrel Tuesday in Asia amid low holiday week trading volume.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 11 cents at $99.57 a barrel at early afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 15 cents to settle at $99.68 in New York on Friday.

In London, Brent crude was up 15 cents at $108.11 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Global oil trading markets were closed Monday for the Christmas holiday.

Crude briefly popped above $100 on Friday amid growing evidence the U.S. economy is improving. Some analysts say concerns that Europe's debt crisis will trigger a recession on the continent next year will overshadow any positive news out of the U.S. this week.

"We don't expect this strength to be maintained this week given a likely shift in focus back toward the eurozone where major debt issues remain largely unresolved," energy consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.

Because many traders are on vacation this week, trading volume is sharply lower and a few trades could jolt prices.

"Volume will be thin through this abbreviated week," energy consultant and trader The Schork Group said in a report. "As such, the potential exists for some wild swings."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 0.8 cents to $2.91 per gallon and gasoline futures were steady at $2.68 per gallon. Natural gas futures were down 2.9 cents to $3.09 per 1,000 cubic feet.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9RSMFEO0&show_article=1

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