Thursday, May 24, 2012

Oiled Up, Bent Over

Oil prices in May have plummeted $15 a barrel from $105 to under $90 this week as European woes take their toll on crude and drop prices to a new a seven-month low.

Oil prices fell below $90 a barrel for the first time in seven months Wednesday as tumult in the eurozone, excess supply and positive news out of Iran weighed on prices.

Crude oil for July delivery fell as low as $89.55 a barrel, marking a 2% decline before settling at $89.90. The selling spilled across multiple commodities, with gold dropping more than $28 to $1,548.4 an ounce.

"Crude prices are really dropping because of concerns about Europe and optimism about Iran," said Phil Flynn, a market analyst at PFGBest. "That's really what's driving the market right now."

Adding further pressure was the Department of Energy's weekly report that showed crude supplies climbed by 883,000 barrels to 382.5 million barrels.

Once again we're in a situation where decreased demand and increased supply has lowered oil prices.

But not of course gasoline prices.

But just when you thought it was safe to get back into long-road-trip mode, gas prices are climbing in some locations again. "There is no good reason to raise the price based on what is going on in the market right now," AAA spokesman Roger Boyd told The Courier-Journal of Kentucky, where the average price of regular rose 5 cents overnight.

In Clark County, Ohio, "many stations listed gas for $3.59 a gallon Tuesday morning. By 3 p.m., several stations had jumped to $3.79 a gallon," the Springfield News-Sun reports. A GasBuddy analyst said Ohio's average price jumped 6 cents in 24 hours. 

Gotta gouge those drivers ahead of the holiday weekend, you know.

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