Cold weather and snow across much of the US have forced oil prices to a fresh one-month high near $59.95 a barrel and forecasters said temperatures would stay below normal for at least the next ten days, boosting heating demand.
The oil prices rose as high as $59.95 in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange but later it slipped back to $59.50, up 48 cents. Freezing temperature also mounted natural gas prices as it recorded two per cent upsurge to $7.65 US per million British thermal units.
Just 18 days before, oil prices have fallen as low as $49.90, it was a 20 month low because of high inventories and unseasonably mild temperatures. But the prospect of a concerted cold spell has pushed prices back up and the plunging temperatures are thought to have increased demand for distillate stocks by up to 500,000 barrels a day.
Earlier, the market dipped as oil unions in Nigeria, threat to strike because of security lapses in the Niger Delta. But later they postpone it. On the other side Iran, world’s fourth-largest oil producer, adamant on its uranium enrichment work, can cut oil output if the U.S pushes further sanctions.
Via: BBC
