Oil

Oil prices rise above $60 a barrelNEW YORK (AFX) - Oil prices climbed above $60 a barrel Friday for the first time since the first trading day of this year, due to growing tension between Iran and the United States, violence in Nigeria and frigid U.S. temperatures.Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 31 cents to $60.02 a barrel by midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising as high as $60.42.Prices have been flirting with the $60-a-barrel level all week, and finally surpassed it Friday."After two or three failures, and then getting above it, that's important in determining market direction," said Jim Ritterbusch. He said, though, it's too soon to say whether the market is firmly entrenched in an uptrend, especially with the end of winter heating fuel demand on the horizon: "It just looks like we've got another week or two of strength."Oil prices have risen steadily over the last two weeks on news of bitter winter weather in the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer. On Thursday, the contract jumped $2 to settle at $59.71 a barrel -- the highest settlement since Dec. 29.Before Friday, crude oil had not traded above $60 a barrel on the Nymex since Jan. 3, the first trading day of the year."It seems traders are looking at the short-term -- heating oil demand and geopolitical tensions -- when they should be looking at the medium and long-term," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo."We have to remember that the geopolitical risks, especially in relation to Iran, have not really been realized in terms of affecting supply, and that the winter season will be over in a month," Emori said.The Brent crude contract for March rose 2 cents to $59.05 a barrel on the London ICE Futures exchange.On Thursday, Iran stepped up its warnings to the United States, which rekindled worries that supplies out of the oil producer could be hindered. Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tehran would strike U.S. interests around the world if his country is attacked.Analysts said the comments kept prices from falling, as did ongoing forecasts of cold weather throughout the United States, and news of a shutdown at an Occidental Petroleum Corp. crude and natural gas field in California.The market was also watching violence in Nigeria, where a Frenchman was kidnapped Thursday in the latest of a spate of violence targeting oil workers.More than 100 foreigners have been seized in a year of stepped-up attacks across Nigeria's southern region, where the crude is pumped. More than 40 have been seized in the past month alone. The violence in Africa's biggest oil producer has cut daily output by nearly a quarter.In other Nymex trading, natural gas slipped less than a cent to $7.865 per 1,000 cubic feet. A day before, it settled at $7.871, its highest settlement price of the year. Natural gas, the more popular form of home heating in the United States, has risen more than 60 percent over the past month on the recent cold weather. It is trading around the same level it was this time last year.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration continues to forecast normal to below-normal temperatures across the United States until at least Feb. 22.In other Nymex trading Friday, heating oil futures rose less than a cent to $1.7303 a gallon, while gasoline futures rose 2.1 cent to $1.6143 a gallon.Retail gasoline prices have been rising along with crude prices over the past two weeks. The average U.S. price of a gallon of regular was $2.205 on Friday, up from $2.197 on Thursday and January's low of about $2.16.