Oil Prices Dip After Record Highs in Previous Session

Oil prices dipped this morning after reaching record highs in the previous session.

Prices were trading above the day’s lows, however, as crude rebounded a bit on an unconfirmed report that Iraq had killed a civilian on the Kuwaiti border.

“The market seemed to take that and run with it a little bit,” said Brendan Dolan, a broker with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.

Light sweet crude was trading at $33.50 per barrel for October contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange late this morning, down 13 cents from Monday’s record close of $33.63.

Oil opened lower today as traders sold futures, but it soon began rallying on the news from the Mideast.

The November contract for crude was higher today, up 59 cents to $32.75 per barrel in late morning trading. Dolan said November crude, which was limited to a rise of $1 in Monday’s trading under the exchange’s rules, was catching up with the higher price of October contracts.

Other crude futures were higher on near months and lower for distant months.

Petroleum product futures were higher today.

Unleaded gasoline was up 1.28 cents to 92.95 cents per gallon on October contracts, while home heating oil was up 2.39 cents to 87.70 cents per gallon on October contracts.

Traders say heating oil has been outpacing oil because winter is approaching.

Natural gas prices showed little change, rising to $1.540 per 1,000 cubic feet, from $1.537 on October contracts.

On Monday, crude oil hit its all-time intra-day high on the Mercantile Exchange, trading late in the day at $33.75 per barrel on October contracts. The previous high, $32.35, had stood since Aug. 2, 1983, and was matched once since Iraq invaded Kuwait last month.