By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures retreated from a four-month high on Monday, as euro-zone finance ministers got ready to meet in Brussels and most U.S. markets were closed for a holiday.
Crude oil for February delivery CLG3 -0.35% lost 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $95.22 a barrel.
Trading was scheduled to close early due to Martin Luther King Day in the U.S.
Monday’s losses came as oil prices jumped more than 2% last week to settle at the highest level in four months on Friday. The International Energy Agency lifted its forecast for oil demand in 2013, citing expectations of higher demand in China.
“Despite gains at the end of last week, the market continues to hold range bound in the current month. The current week promises to be fairly volatile, with a lot of attention on temperatures in Europe amid the ongoing cold snap,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, commodity analyst at VTB Capital in a note.
Also on investors minds’ on Monday, euro-area finance ministers were scheduled to meet in Brussels to discuss the region’s debt crisis, but they were also expected to pick the successor to Jean-Claude Juncker.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, was expected to be named new chairman.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, February gasoline RBG3 +0.62% lost 0.3% to $2.79 a gallon, while heating oil for the same month HOG3 +0.71% slipped 0.2% to $3.05 a gallon.
Natural gas for February delivery gained 0.9% to $3.60 per million British thermal units.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.
