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Oil inches up as US 'fiscal cliff' talks stall
Source: Agencies |
December 21, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Oil closed above US$90 a barrel for the first time in two months Thursday as it tracked an upward move in US stock markets.
Benchmark crude for February delivery ended the day at US$90.13 per barrel, up 15 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, dropped 16 cents to finish at US$110.20 per barrel in London.
Meanwhile, gasoline prices continued to drop, while natural gas prices surged more than 4 percent.
Hopes faded for a pre-Christmas deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" as budget talks in Washington reached a partisan standoff. Without a deal, the hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts and tax hikes that will take effect could throw the US economy back into recession, economists believe. Such a prospect would likely mean decreasing energy demand.
Oil was lower for most of the morning then moved higher as US stocks pushed into positive territory in the afternoon.
Natural gas prices gained 14 cents, or 4.2 percent, to end at US$3.46 per 1,000 cubic feet after the government reported that the nation's supplies fell last week. Natural gas had dropped 10 percent in the two weeks ended Wednesday as some regions in the US experienced warmer than normal temperatures, which meant less gas was used for heating.
The US national average for gasoline reached its lowest point of the year on Thursday, falling almost a penny to US$3.22 a gallon (85 cents a liter). The average was US$3.28 on Jan. 1, and was as high as US$3.87 in mid-September.
In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:
- Heating oil rose 2 cents to finish at US$3.06 a gallon.
- Wholesale gasoline gained a penny to end at US$2.75 a gallon.
Benchmark crude for February delivery ended the day at US$90.13 per barrel, up 15 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, dropped 16 cents to finish at US$110.20 per barrel in London.
Meanwhile, gasoline prices continued to drop, while natural gas prices surged more than 4 percent.
Hopes faded for a pre-Christmas deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" as budget talks in Washington reached a partisan standoff. Without a deal, the hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts and tax hikes that will take effect could throw the US economy back into recession, economists believe. Such a prospect would likely mean decreasing energy demand.
Oil was lower for most of the morning then moved higher as US stocks pushed into positive territory in the afternoon.
Natural gas prices gained 14 cents, or 4.2 percent, to end at US$3.46 per 1,000 cubic feet after the government reported that the nation's supplies fell last week. Natural gas had dropped 10 percent in the two weeks ended Wednesday as some regions in the US experienced warmer than normal temperatures, which meant less gas was used for heating.
The US national average for gasoline reached its lowest point of the year on Thursday, falling almost a penny to US$3.22 a gallon (85 cents a liter). The average was US$3.28 on Jan. 1, and was as high as US$3.87 in mid-September.
In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:
- Heating oil rose 2 cents to finish at US$3.06 a gallon.
- Wholesale gasoline gained a penny to end at US$2.75 a gallon.
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