Natural gas prices jump to all-time high

Winter weather seen boosting crude oil past $61 barrel

SINGAPORE – Natural-gas prices rose to a new record Friday as a winter storm hit the northern United States, while crude and heating oil prices also gained amid expectations for strong demand.

Natural gas for January delivery reached a new intraday high of $15.52 per 1,000 cubic feet in electronic Asian trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before slipping back to $15.351 per 1,000 cubic feet, up nearly 36 cents. The contract had closed at $14.994 overnight, also a new record.
Nymex crude was also higher. Light, sweet crude oil for January delivery surged 58 cents to $61.24 a barrel in midday electronic trading in Europe.

Although more than $9 lower than its all-time high of $70.85 a barrel set Sept. 30, oil prices are more than 40 percent higher than a year ago.

AP