Futures Pros – Crude oil futures erased losses on Tuesday, jumping to a three-day high, as the U.S. dollar weakened against its major counterparts, boosting the appeal of commodities. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at USD90.19 a barrel during early U.S. trade, jumping 0.91%. It earlier rose to USD90.30 a barrel, the highest price since January 6. The U.S. dollar declined against the euro after the European Central Bank stepped in to buy Portuguese and Irish government debt for the second successive day. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.08% during early U.S. trade. Dollar-denominated oil futures contracts tend to rise when the dollar falls, as this makes oil cheaper for buyers in other currencies. Crude oil’s losses earlier in the day came after Alyeska Pipeline Service said that it was installing a bypass to restore operation to its Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which was suspended after a leak was discovered at a pumping station over the weekend. According to Alyeska, the line could return to service by the end of the week. The 800-mile pipeline carries approximately 15% of U.S. crude oil supplies. Meanwhile, oil giant Chevron, which owns a 1.4% stake in the Trans-Alaska system, said late Monday that there were “no issues with crude oil supply at the moment”, while adding that U.S. inventories would be “minimally impacted” in the short term. Elsewhere, natural gas for February delivery climbed 0.39% to trade at USD4.386 per million British thermal units, while heating oil for February delivery surged 1.23% to trade at a 27-month high of USD2.593 per gallon during early U.S. trade.

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