Brent Crude Rises on Tight Supply
NYMEX-traded crude oil futures finished higher on Monday as violence in the Middle East threatened the global supply outlook, and data showed financial investors had returned in droves to the commodity. Oil also drew support from a partial closure of the lower Mississippi River, including the Port of New Orleans, as crews cleaned up oil that spilled when two vessels collided. The closure could delay some deliveries, some traders said. The market also weighed upbeat economic data and expectations that supplies would continue to drain from the benchmark delivery point for the U.S. oil futures contract. Preliminary estimates for weekly data suggested a decline of more than 1 million barrels at the key Cushing, Okla., oil hub. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery settled up 62¢ US$102.82 per barrel (/bbl). Across the Atlantic, London-traded Brent crude rose on Monday after production outages in Libya and South Sudan curbed exports and tightened global supply. Front-month April Brent ended 79¢ higher at $110.64/bbl, widening Brent’s premium to WTI to $7.82/bbl, from $7.65/bbl in the previous session.

Benchmark Natural Gas Slides 11%
U.S. natural gas futures tumbled 11% on Monday after hitting a new five-year high initially on concern that high prices could push utilities and industrial firms to cut back on gas usage. Volatile trading saw the March contract jump in early-morning trade to US$6.49 per million British thermal units (/mmBtu) – the highest since late 2008 – then work lower through the balance of the session, hitting $5.38/mmBtu before recovering to settle at $5.445/mmBtu, down 69¢. Analysts and traders said the dramatic slide was likely caused by the market’s inability to break the $6.50/mmBtu technical resistance point. The expiration of the March contract on Wednesday also drove the $1.11 daily price swing – the largest since August 2006, Bloomberg data showed.
Elsewhere, intense cold is forecast in the U.S. North-Central region over the next five days, and another brutal cold shot is seen over much of the country in the six- to 10-day outlook.