December crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened 31
cents lower at $95.15/barrel Friday as prospects for an economic slowdown in
the US put a damper on bullish sentiment.

Federal Reserve Bank Chairman, Ben Bernanke's comments in front of
Congress Thursday that the US economy was likely to slow in coming months,
sent equity prices skidding and causing the oil markets to stay under
pressure.

Prices fell to as low as $94.54/barrel on Globex, a major support level,
that if violated could encourage long liquidation ahead of the weekend.
"The Chairman's slow-growth forecast, if correct, should bring commodity
prices down a few pegs and energy markets will be equally hard-pressed to
maintain current valuations," Ed Meir, energy analyst at MF Global, said in a
report.

December heating oil opened 68 points lower at $2.5990/gal.

There was plenty of underlying bullish news to curtail the selloff at the
same time. Ongoing production shut-ins in the North Sea and shipping
disruptions have the potential to reduce US oil imports. Bad weather Friday
caused problems for shipping across most of Northwest Europe, with operations
at the region's two biggest oil ports, Rotterdam and Antwerp severely
affected, port and shipping sources said.

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafield@platts.com