OPEC president’s comments push oil higher

Prices for crude oil were up Monday on wide expectations that OPEC will cut output when it meets this week.

Chakib Khelil, president of the oil cartel said that it might cut output again in December and urged non-OPEC oil producers to cut their output as well, but the International Energy Agency warned that cuts could harm chances for a global economy recovery.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $2.40 to $74.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report Brent crude was trading $1.97 higher to $71.57 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

In afternoon trade, Nymex November gasoline futures were up 5 cents to $1.72 per gallon while December heating oil gained 7 cents to $2.23 per gallon.

Precious metals prices were higher but base metals saw declines.

December gold added $2.30 to $790 per troy ounce in New York after the price of the metal dropped below $800 per troy ounce, inducing more buyers to jump into the market, while December silver added 36 cents to $9.69 per troy ounce and January platinum gained $11.50 to $892.50 per troy ounce.

December copper, on the other hand, dropped 6 cents to $2.12 per pound in New York and three-month copper fell to a range around $4,720/$4,730 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Aluminium was also lower, falling to around $2,131/$2,132 per tonne at the close in London on new data which showed declines in Chinese output.

Zinc was down $20 to $1,205 per tonne while lead dropped about $30 to a range around $1,420/$1,430 per tonne, nickel was approximately $300 lower to $10,550 per tonne, and tin closed at around $12,300/$12,350 per tonne, also a decline from Friday’s close.

Grains prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade, where December corn added 15 cents to $4.18 per bushel and November soybeans gained 35 cents to $9.29 per bushel but December wheat dropped 2 cents to $5.63 per bushel.

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