Natural Gas Prices Fall to $5.55 During Christmas Eve 2008...

For the week ended Dec. 19, crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels, or one per cent, to 318.2 million barrels, which is 9.1 per cent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. On Christmas Eve, light, sweet crude for February delivery fell $3.63 to close at $35.35 US in a shortened day of trading. Prices had fallen as low as $35.13 earlier in the day. On Dec. 31, the EIA said natural gas storage levels in the U.S. tumbled last week but remain 3.4 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA said natural gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states slipped by 147 billion cubic feet to about 3.02 trillion cubic feet. Analysts had expected a drop of between 142 billion and 147 billion cubic feet. At the end of trading for natural gas on Christmas Eve, natural gas for January delivery tumbled 18.8 cents to fetch $5.549 per 1,000 cubic feet. Light, sweet crude for February delivery slid $1.34 to $37.69 a barrel in light New Year's Eve electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. The contract overnight fell 99 cents to $39.03. Prices hit a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11, fueled by speculation that soaring growth in emerging economies, such as China and India, would boost demand for crude. Prices rose 57 percent in 2007 to $95.98 a barrel. During New Year's Eve trading, natural gas for February delivery closed at $5.76 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Crude Oil, Natural Gas Prices Rise During Early January...

For the first five days in January 2009, oil prices are up about 25 percent in the last week alone, in part because of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Rising oil prices have helped push the wholesale price of gasoline up by 40 percent since Dec. 24, leading to predictions by energy experts that retail gasoline prices will spike by as much as 25 percent in coming weeks. Oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Monday alone to close at $48.81 in New York trading, as fighting continued in the Gaza Strip and Iran's OPEC representative said the cartel would hold a special meeting in February. The cartel decided last month to cut output by 2.2 million barrels, on top of earlier cutbacks. Refineries have cut the number of barrels of crude oil they processed weekly to 14.5 million during December, from 15.4 million, according to the Energy Department. The tighter supplies are putting pressure on retail prices.
By Jan. 6, crude for February delivery fell 23 cents to settle at $48.58 a barrel during trading.

After Rising Natural Gas Prices in Early January, Then A Decline...

By Martin Luther King Jr. Day, natural gas for February delivery dropped 10.7 cents to $4.694 per 1,000 cubic feet and oil per barrell fell below $36.00. After Inaugural Day in Washington, D. C. , on Jan. 22, natural gas trading for February delivery fell 9.9 cents to settle at $4.78 per 1,000 cubic feet. As far as the crude market is concerned, trading closing prices for light, sweet crude for March delivery end up 12 cents at $43.67 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Recession, over supply and less demand continues a weak crude and natural gas market at end of Jan. 2009

Natural gas for February delivery was at $4.51 per 1,000 cubic feet during electronic morning trading on Jan. 28 and light, sweet crude for March was at $41.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil has mostly traded between $40 and $45 a barrel since mid-December as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries implements a 4.2 million barrels output reduction announced since September. For the week ended Jan. 23, crude inventories rose by 6.2 million barrels, or 1.9 percent, to 338.9 million barrels, which is 15.5 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 24 cents to settle at $41.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Jan. 31, oil prices rose after the Commerce Department reported the economy shrank at a 3.8 percent pace at the end of 2008, which was not as bad as economists had expected. Natural gas for March delivery fell 15.9 cents to settle at $4.417 per 1,000 cubic feet at the end of trading on Jan. 31.