Crude Dips in Quiet Trading

Updated from 12:39 p.m. EST

Oil prices ended slightly down Friday as traders were reluctant to make any big bets before a long holiday weekend.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery dipped 25 cents to $62.41 a barrel and wholesale unleaded gasoline shed 1 cent to $1.62 a gallon.

Traders typically don't like to make big bets on energy prices before a three-day weekend because oil prices can swing erratically in overseas markets. The Nymex closed early today at 1 p.m. in observance of Monday's holiday closure and will reopen Tuesday.

The big moves of the week seem already to have been made. On Wednesday, oil prices hit a 14-week high of $63.72 before plunging to $62.66. This week, the markets have alternatively been focusing on plunging crude stockpiles, rising distillates and heating oil, and the reopening of shipping channels in Louisiana and Texas.

Until Thursday morning, heavy fog had kept tankers from entering or exiting key waterways in Texas and Louisiana, where many of the country's refiners are located. They channels were effectively closed since Dec. 14, which pushed down the country's crude inventories by 6.3 million barrels last week. Another drop in crude inventories is again expected this week.

Most of the refiners there were able to continue operating as planned, except for the 340,000-barrel Deer Park facility that Royal Dutch Shell(RDS.A Quote) operates near Houston.

Nationwide, refiners ramped up production of distillates -- which include fuels like heating oil, jet fuel and diesel -- and gasoline last week by 1.2 million and 1 million barrels, respectively.

Fuels used to heat homes and businesses were sliding on predictions for warm weather and rising inventories of heating fuels. The National Weather Service expects above-average temperatures to persist in the Northeast until early January. Natural gas ended down 16 cents at $6.63 per million British thermal units, and heating oil slipped 1 cent to $1.68 a gallon.

Energy shares were slumping along with energy prices and were recently down 1.1% on the Amex Oil Index. Valero Energy(VLO Quote), Repsol(REP Quote) and Total(TOT Quote) were falling the most among the index's 13 refining and exploration companies, down about at least 1.4% each.

Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) was last down 0.2% at $75.71.

In corporate news, El Paso(EP Quote) is selling its ANR Pipeline company, storage facilities in Michigan and 50% of its stake in Great Lakes Gas Transmission, which runs a pipeline from western to eastern Canada, for $3.3 billion to TransCanada (TRP Quote) and TC PipeLines. The pipeline operator has been selling properties in the past three years that don't match its sharper focus on interstate natural gas pipelines and exploration and production.

El Paso shares were recently rising 5.2% to $15.60.

A subsidiary of Cheniere Energy(LNG Quote), which operates liquefied natural gas terminals, filed to go public, according to a company release late Thursday. Cheniere Energy Partners expects to raise $250 million in the offering and will own the company's Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana. A share price range was not given.

Cheniere Energy's stock was last climbing 10.5% to $29.17.