Crude Finishes Little Changed

Crude futures opened strong on the Nymex Monday, but they failed to maintain staying power and slid back near the flat line at the end of the trading session.

The June light sweet crude contract ended up 9 cents to $62.46 a barrel, having climbed as high as $62.92 earlier. Reformulated gasoline fell 5 cents to $2.30 a gallon. Heating oil dropped a penny to $1.87 a gallon.

The near-term natural gas contract was unchanged at $7.90 per million British thermal unit.

The gasoline market was especially lethargic Monday, according to Thomas Hartmann, energy analyst at Altavest Worldwide Trading. Because refiners are now focused on producing motor gasoline in preparation for the summer driving season, weakness in the gasoline market ultimately kept crude prices in check, Hartmann says.

The relatively small move in crude prices came despite news over the weekend that Chevron (CVX Quote) is evacuating hundreds of oil-field workers from Nigeria. Roughly one-quarter of Nigeria's production capacity is shut-in because of escalating violence in the country.

Nigeria will remain a concern for energy traders and investors this week. According to Dennis Gartman, publisher of The Gartman Letter, Nigerian rebel groups have little incentive to curb the violence in the oil-producing delta region, even though the results of the recent presidential elections will likely stick.