Crude oil prices mixed on day, up during week

Oil prices were mixed during the day on Friday, but prices were up for the week as the 2006 hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean neared and the Memorial Day holiday this weekend marked the start of the summer driving season in the United States.

Brent crude July contracts on the International Petroleum Exchange dropped by 4 cents by late afternoon in London, to $70.67 per barrel, but it was 2.5 percent higher on the week.  Still, Brent remained over $4 lower than its record high, set at the beginning of May.

July delivery West Texas Intermediate crude was up 13 cents by late morning on Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $71.45 per barrel, 4 percent above its price at the beginning of the week.  WTI, too, is around $4 lower than its record high, set in late April.

Nymex June unleaded gasoline was up 1.96 cents during the day to $2.1240 per gallon.  This contributed to a 4 percent gain on the week.  Unleaded gasoline is 25 percent higher than it was at this time last year, a traditional time of gasoline price hikes in the US.

Upcoming next week is a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Caracas, Venezuela.  OPEC is expected to maintain its present production levels.