Chuck Marvin
Energy futures were broadly higher Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid the increasing, although still unlikely, possibility that two weather systems in the Atlantic Ocean could impact the U.S.
September light sweet crude oil was up 76 cents at $72.38 a barrel. Reformulated gasoline edged 4 cents higher to $1.97 a gallon, and heating oil rose nearly 2 cents to $1.98 a gallon. Natural gas climbed 15 cents to $6.94 per million British thermal units. The National Weather Service is reporting that Tropical Storm Dean is currently 1,000 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands in the mid-Atlantic, moving westward at roughly 23 miles an hour. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 miles an hour. Although it is too far away for an accurate prediction, Dean could potentially land somewhere on the East Coast of the U.S. Also, an unnamed storm currently measured as a tropical depression is building strength in the Caribbean. When severe weather systems, namely hurricanes, take aim at U.S. oil-producing and refining areas, energy prices tend to rise as traders prepare for supply disruptions. Meanwhile, energy stocks were mixed. The CBOE Oil Index was 1.1% lower at 720. ConocoPhillips (COP Quote - Cramer on COP - Stock Picks) slipped 0.4% to $78.86. Chevron (CVX Quote - Cramer on CVX - Stock Picks) was flat at $82.45. Cabot Oil & Gas (COG Quote - Cramer on COG - Stock Picks) was upgraded by Keybank Capital Markets to aggressive buy from buy, lifting the stock 1.8% to $33.29.
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