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Synthetic rubber consumption is growing faster than natural rubber as the price differential between the two has widened in the past few months and the commercial vehicles sales are moving slower.

Price moves

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery rose $1.70, or 2.5%, to settle at $70.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices ending at their highest since Nov. 22, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

February Brent crude the global benchmark, climbed by $1.33, or 1.8%, at $73.52 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

January gasoline added 1.5% at $1.99 a gallon, while January heating oil rose 1.7% to $2.22 a gallon.

Natural gas for January delivery settled at $3.38 per million British thermal units, up 6.8% Wednesday. Month to date, it’s up just 0.5%.

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Brent crude futures settled at US$73.91 a barrel on Monday, down 58 cents, or 0.8 per cent lower, after settling on Friday at their highest since Nov 22

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Brent crude futures were up US$1, or 1.39%, to US$73.19 a barrel by 1:25 p.m. ET. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose US$1.26, or 1.84%, to US$69.85.