Oil prices fluctuated near US$63 a barrel Thursday after jumping nearly US$2 overnight. Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell 19 cents to US$62.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. The contract settled Wednesday at US$62.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of US$1.95 for the day, and the price peaked at US$63.21 during Thursday's early trading. November Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose 32 cents to US$62.53 a barrel. In other Nymex trading, heating oil prices fell 0.11 cent to US$1.7030 a gallon. Gasoline futures fell 1.88 cents to US$1.5211. Natural gas futures rose 1.5 cents to US$5.684 per thousand cubic feet, after plunging 7 percent Wednesday to the lowest level since December 2002, the Associated Press reported. U.S. inventories of natural gas are high due to last year's mild winter, and prices are under additional pressure because of fears about possible hurricane-related supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico. Nymex natural gas futures settled Wednesday at $4.201 per 1,000 cubic feet, the lowest close since Dec. 3, 2002, the Associated Press reported.
