Oil Futures Prices Surge in Flurry of Late Trading

NEW YORK —  Oil futures prices quietly turned around Tuesday before surging ahead in the final minutes of trading on a wave of technical buying.

Contracts for September delivery of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude oil, ended the day 26 cents higher at $20.99 per 42-gallon barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had declined on Monday.

Traders noted that about half of the advance was rung up in the final 10 minutes of trading.

Prices for refined oil products also headed higher. The September contract for wholesale unleaded gasoline rose 0.24 cent to 54.55 cents a gallon, while the near-month contract for wholesale No. 2 heating oil was up 0.54 cent to 54.55 cents a gallon.

Analysts said the market was dull at the opening and drifted downward before turning around in the afternoon. “The market had been pretty steady all day, gradually improving before that last burst,” said William Byers, director of futures research at Bear, Stearns & Co.

Trading Strategy

Prices had been up about 13 cents a barrel before surging ahead in the final minutes of trading.

Bob Baker, senior energy analyst at Prudential-Bache Securities, said traders waited to see if prices would hold throughout the day before buying at the close, a trading strategy.

The market was relatively unaffected by reports that additional mines had been discovered in the Gulf of Oman, which fueled some fears that mine attacks are spreading beyond the war-torn Persian Gulf.

“The market is pretty callous to the kind of news coming out of the gulf,” Baker said. “It did not go up on news of hostilities there.” Indeed, prices fell back Monday after a U.S.-operated supertanker hit a mine outside the gulf.

A statement by Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger that the United States was seeking the support of other countries to establish an international mine-clearing force helped support the market, rather than drive it.

Safe Passage

“I can’t find any news on the way up or on the way down” that factored into the day’s activity, Baker said.

Meanwhile, three reflagged Kuwaiti ships left their U.S. escorts, having arrived safely in Kuwait’s waters. Their arrival ended the second Navy-escorted trip up the gulf by Kuwaiti vessels without trouble.