Money Matters, Simplified.
Crude oil hovers near $88
Thu, 09/12/2010 - 22:43 by harsheeb
Traders will be scanning news reports for hints on OPEC's position on production quotas to be announced Saturday. The Wall Street Journal Thursday quoted an unidentified OPEC official as saying oil ministers were comfortable with recent price hikes.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said the U.S. crude oil supplies had dropped by 3.8 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 3, but that the 214 million barrels on hand were near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
January delivery light, sweet crude prices edged slightly higher Thursday morning, adding 6 cents to $88.34 per barrel. Heating oil prices added 0.38 cents to $2.4645 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices gained 1.21 cents to $2.3167 per gallon.
Henry Hub natural gas prices shed 3 cents to $4.575 per million British thermal units.
On the retail level, the national average price of unleaded gasoline at gas stations rose to $2.975 Thursday from Wednesday's $2.968, AAA said.
Copyright 2010 United Press International