Daily Updates
Oil slips below $80 as U.S. dollar strengthens
By PABLO GORONDI
Associated Press Writer
Oil prices slipped below $80 a barrel Thursday as the U.S. dollar strengthened, making commodities like crude more expensive for international investors.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for December delivery was down 56 cents to $79.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 80 cents to settle at $80.40 on Wednesday.
Crude has traded near $80 a barrel for the last few weeks as investors watch a volatile dollar and mixed signs on the strength of the U.S. economy. Oil has jumped from $32 in December as traders have used crude and other commodities like gold, which are priced in dollars, as a hedge against a weakening dollar and inflation.
The euro slipped to $1.4847 on Thursday in European trading from $1.4872 the previous day.
U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell last week, a sign demand could be improving. The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that crude stocks fell 4 million barrels while analysts had expected a rise of 1.3 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
“Very slowly, the imbalances in the U.S. oil market have been sorting themselves out,” Barclays Capital said in a report. “A key part of that adjustment has been the winnowing away of the overhang of inventories.”
Barclays expects oil prices to average $76 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $85 next year.
Others remained skeptical about the bullishness of the inventory data.
JBC Energy in Vienna said the fall in crude stocks could be attributed to lower imports and refinery utilization, while demand for products like heating oil and diesel remained weak.
“U.S. demand for petroleum product has been very stable for the last five month and while stability is better than continued erosion it is not yet showing any sign of rebound,” said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil fell 1.51 cents to $2.0751 a gallon. Gasoline for December delivery dropped 1.49 cents to $1.9978 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery lost 0.9 cent to $4.716 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for December delivery fell 59 cents to $78.30 on the ICE Futures exchange.
———
Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.
- Daily Updates
-
-
Fargo residents learn from mistakes in flood fight
Before this flood season, officials in Fargo asked homeowners to clear paths in their yards so that firm and straight walls of sandbags could be placed to protect their homes. One resident cut down his tree. Another went so far to use a torch to melt the ice off his ground.
-
Medical marijuana a frequent target for criminals
Patients, growers and clinics in some of the 14 states that allow medical marijuana are falling victim to robberies, home invasions, shootings and even murders at the hands of pot thieves.
-
Pa. suspect is rare US woman facing terror trial
If the woman dubbed “Jihad Jane” goes on trial, she would become just the second American woman tried on U.S. soil on terrorism charges — and the first accused of directly working toward a Muslim holy war.
-
Md. lawmakers not feeling so Southern anymore
Maryland’s official song may include a line about “Northern scum” left over from the Civil War era, but the state isn’t feeling so Southern anymore.
-
SC gov agrees to pay ethics fine, gets divorced
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has closed two chapters of his life, agreeing to pay $74,000 in fines to resolve ethics charges brought against him after last summer’s revelation of an extramarital affair, and receiving word that a judge had formally ended his 20-year marriage to his wife, Jenny.
-
Doctor says heart groups too cozy with industry
A prominent cardiologist accused leading heart organizations of being too cozy with industry and allowing those ties to influence its policies and education programs for doctors.
-
Woman hit with rock in car dies
Authorities say a South Carolina woman initially left in critical condition after she was struck by a rock that flew through her windshield when a pickup truck hit a pothole along Interstate 20 near the Alabama-Georgia line Monday has died.
-
PepsiCo cuts sugary drinks from schools worldwide
PepsiCo plans to remove sugary drinks from schools worldwide, following the success of programs in the U.S. aimed at cutting down on childhood obesity.
-
Woods will return to golf at Masters on April 8
For Tiger Woods, this figures to be a Masters like no other.
-
Ivy League’s Cornell responds to 3 gorge deaths
Cornell University, an Ivy League school known for its spectacular gorges and haunted by a reputation for suicides, took the extraordinary step of posting lookouts on bridges and going door-to-door to check on students after three undergrads plunged to their deaths in the past month.
- More Daily Updates Headlines
-
Fargo residents learn from mistakes in flood fight
