February crude futures on NYMEX opened 39 cents higher at $98.30/barrel Monday after being down as much as 80 cents/b in overnight trading, after news that Iranian gun boats came with 200 yards of three US war ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday stopped the overnight selloff.
But the gains were short-lived, as a rebound in the US dollar tempered the rally. Ongoing tensions between the US and Iran over the Islamic Republic's plutonium enrichment program has been supportive to oil prices, but market sentiment has ebbed and flowed with each development.
Weak US economic data and soft demand for gasoline in the US gasoline accounts for about 45% of total US petroleum demand--prevented the oil market from sustaining upward momentum at the $100/barrel level.
"The energy complex will likely be using the stock indexes as a proxy for economic expectations until further guidance is forthcoming from the [economic] indicators," energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch said in a report.
February heating oil opened 65 points higher at $2.69/gallon, but rapidly turned lower as the arrival of above-average temperatures along the Atlantic Coast had implications for distillate demand. February RBOB opened 40 points higher at $2.5150/gal.
But the gains were short-lived, as a rebound in the US dollar tempered the rally. Ongoing tensions between the US and Iran over the Islamic Republic's plutonium enrichment program has been supportive to oil prices, but market sentiment has ebbed and flowed with each development.
Weak US economic data and soft demand for gasoline in the US gasoline accounts for about 45% of total US petroleum demand--prevented the oil market from sustaining upward momentum at the $100/barrel level.
"The energy complex will likely be using the stock indexes as a proxy for economic expectations until further guidance is forthcoming from the [economic] indicators," energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch said in a report.
February heating oil opened 65 points higher at $2.69/gallon, but rapidly turned lower as the arrival of above-average temperatures along the Atlantic Coast had implications for distillate demand. February RBOB opened 40 points higher at $2.5150/gal.
