Crude Back Up After Early Losses
Oil prices settled higher, rebounding from earlier losses on reports that Nigerian oil workers are about to strike, and investors focused on a surprise decline in gasoline inventories last week.
Retail gas prices slipped slightly for a second day, a sign that falling demand may be affecting prices and that prices at the pump may have caught up to crude oil’s latest record advance.
Light, sweet crude rose $2.67 to settle at $136.68 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of gas slipped 0.3 cent overnight to $4.075 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. It was the second straight decline, bringing prices half a cent below their latest record of $4.08 a gallon, set Monday.
In other Nymex trading, July gasoline futures gained 4.88 cents to settle at $3.4667 a gallon, and July heating oil futures added 3.78 cents to settle at $3.86 a gallon.
July natural gas futures rose 25.8 cents to settle at $13.21 per 1,000 cubic feet. Natural gas prices last settled over $13 in December 2005, as they receded from a spike above $15 in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
