OIl (AFX)

Oil prices settle below $59 a barrelNEW YORK (AFX) - Oil prices slipped to finish below $59 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits in the afternoon when they suspected prices wouldn't breach $60.Light, sweet crude for March delivery slipped 28 cents to settle at $58.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery on the ICE Futures exchange fell 31 cents to settle at $58.10 a barrel.Colder-than-normal weather in the Northeast, which makes up 80 percent of U.S. heating oil consumption, bolstered oil prices in morning trading. The contract rose as high as $59.95 a barrel before falling back in the afternoon."I guess it just wasn't cold enough for oil traders," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, where temperatures dipped below zero on Monday. "Early on, the market rallied on the cold weather, but it wasn't enough to carry the day.""So, we saw some profit-taking when oil couldn't get its nose above $60," he said.Natural gas also got a boost from the blustery weather in the Midwest, which accounts for the bulk of that market. Natural gas futures hit $8.035 per 1,0000 cubic feet during trading before settling at $7.634, up nearly 16 cents.Colder-than-normal temperatures are expected to linger in the Northeast and Midwest through Feb. 18, according to the National Weather Service, which could send oil and natural gas prices higher.Oil prices had fallen as low as $49.90 a barrel last month after an unseasonably warm January.Monday's decline in oil prices comes after a rally on Friday that saw prices rise $1.72 to settle at $59.02 a barrel, the highest close since it finished at $61.05 on the last trading day of 2006.In addition to cold weather, oil prices had been supported Friday by concerns the two main Nigerian oil workers' unions would hold a strike this week in protest of rising violence in Africa's biggest petroleum producer. The planned Monday strike was called off pending a meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo.The 20,000-strong blue- and white-collar unions had threatened the work stoppage after an increase in the number of kidnappings and oil-industry attacks across the southern Niger Delta area, where most of crude in Africa's oil giant is pumped.Also in Nigeria, officials said Sunday hostage takers released nine Chinese oil-worker captives.Expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will tighten their spigots further are also likely to shore up crude oil prices."Once again this week there were few comments from OPEC members and those that did speak emphasized a consensus to implement existing cuts rather than announce further reductions," said Eoin O'Callaghan, an analyst at BNP Paribas."And while a speculative point, it is worth noting that the recent rebound in front month (March) crude futures is also consistent with a tightening of compliance by OPEC after the January fall."The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Saudi Arabia has advised its customers of its impending 158,000 barrel a day output cut effective Feb. 1. The reduction is part of a December agreement by OPEC to cut output by 500,000 barrels a day on top of an earlier production cut of 1.2 million barrels a day.In other trading, heating oil futures slipped nearly a penny to settle at $1.6756 a gallon, while gasoline futures settled at $1.5599 a gallon, down more than one cent.