Data pushes crude prices up slightly

Crude oil prices rose Friday after the Commerce Department reported that the US economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2008, but not by as much as had been anticipated.

March contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were up 24 cents to $41.68 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude for March delivery added 80 cents to $46.20 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

New data showed that the gross domestic product fell 3.89 percent in the fourth quarter, with the contraction illustrated by a new earnings report form ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) which had the oil giant’s full year earnings at a record $23.93 billion last year despite earnings that dropped by 33 percent in the fourth quarter.

In afternoon trade, Nymex March gasoline futures were up 4 cents to $1.28 per gallon and March heating oil added 2 cents to $1.44 per gallon but March natural gas was down 17 cents to $4.41 per million British thermal units.

Even with reports that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could add more production cuts to those already announced, slipping demand and almost 16 percent more crude oil in storage in the US than last year at this time, worries about the cuts were not able to push oil prices much higher.