Oil Prices Soar and Swoop

Oil Prices Soar and Swoop

Crude oil futures swung wildly, rising to a record and then tumbling as investors wrestled with whether they should put stock in Saudi Arabia’s promise to boost production. Retail gas prices rose to a record $4.08 a gallon.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 25 cents to settle at $134.61 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier soaring to a trading record of $139.89.

With little in the way of news to explain oil’s decline, analysts pointed to Saudi Arabia’s weekend decision to boost production and to Tuesday’s expiration of crude options for explanations.

In other Nymex trading, July gasoline futures fell 2.47 cents to settle at $3.4379 a gallon, while July heating oil futures fell 0.94 cent to settle at $3.8274 a gallon.

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