Mon, May 28, 2012, 4:12 PM EDT - U.S. Markets closed for Memorial Day

Oil below $100 amid signs of improving US economy

Oil hovers below $100 in Asia as investors eye US economy, Greek debt crisis

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices hovered below $100 a barrel Friday in Asia as encouraging news about the U.S. economy was tempered by European demands for Greece to make further spending cuts before getting a new bailout.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 29 cents at $99.55 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.13 to settle at $99.84 on Thursday.

Brent crude was down 50 cents at $118.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Crude has bobbed around $100 for the last few months, buoyed by signs the U.S. economy is improving. On Thursday, the U.S. reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to near a four-year low last week, suggesting the job market is gaining strength.

"The energy market appears positioned for additional price gains as we still look for crude to work its way up to the $101 area," energy consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.

Oil has risen from $96 earlier this month on growing investor optimism Greece may avoid a chaotic debt default. Greece agreed on Thursday to new spending cuts and other austerity measures that were necessary to receive an international bailout.

However, hours later, European ministers said Greece didn't go far enough and demanded more cuts within a week in exchange for a 130 billion euro ($170 billion) bailout to stave off bankruptcy.

In other energy trading, heating oil was steady at $3.21 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 0.5 cent to $3.01 per gallon. Natural gas rose 0.1 cent to $2.48 per 1,000 cubic feet.

 

12 comments

  • James  •  Troy, Michigan  •  3 months ago
    I read this same article a year ago... and things are still the same. Recycled news and same ol' Wall Street slant of urgency in a boring economy. Iran won't do a #$%$ thing, the Greeks will default, and we have all the oil we need here in North America to be independent from the world's problems. Commodoties are an invented game by brokerage houses to milk the public of money. There is no supply and demand fundamentals left. You kids in college can get a refund on your economics class. It ain't your grandpa's stock market. Nobody invests anymore.
    • Rusty 3 months ago
      Same song , different artist and tune .
    • Rusty 3 months ago
      I would like to take this opportunity to say a few things about something that is seldom talked about , GAMBLING . ...............................................................[
      In the state of Oklahoma it is bigger than oil in major profits . There are slots in every corner of every little shack in the hick towns and in the major cities like OK city , Tulsa has 3 big ones , Down Stream casino is within 4 miles of Joplin Mo . where we had the major tornado , last year . They make large contributions to the state of OKlahoma , but little to the indian nations . In name only and most of them are run by the Greedy white men . Tom Coburn , [ R ] senater from oklahoma allows the casinos to profit to the tune of 78% . that is 0.78 cents of every dollar that slides into the slots stays with the casinos . It is a rackett that is paying big for the state and to certain individuals . There is one tribe that has claimed to have contributed $1.5 billion to the state this last year and are in the process of adding onto their existing facility a $13 billion dollar expansion . Don't be fooled by the idea that you will win a jackpot if you are lucky . Believe me luck has nothing to do with it and as for as chance is concerned your chances of recovering your loses is non existent . They are controlled by people who have access to the computers that control the amount that each machine pays out . I know how they work because i have been studying them for 10 years . Your chances of winning on one dollar is actually better than on one hundred dollars . Oklahoma's casinos are the major employer in the state , that includes the gamming commission which is also owned by the casinos .In fact the gamming commission office is located in with the chocktaw nations headquarters in DURANT , OK . Now that is what our nation has come to
      and the oil companies are not the only organization that is cheating the public out of their lively hood and they don't care if your children starve to death . Just remember this if you play the slots and you make a little extra , it isn't the casinos loses it is some other poor slob who thinks that he is going to make it big and he may for a while until they get that poor slob hooked by addiction . They love this time of year when the tax refunds are rolling in . They build on the borders of other states that don't have legallized gamming , like , mo. ar. ks . tex. co. nm. They are the big gluttions of the nations and are still building on . But the houseing and other buisnessses are in forclosure or bankrutsy or outsourcing . Ain't no casino , that I know of which are out-sourceing . BUT THE TRUTH BE KNOWN THEY DON"T FORCE ANYONE TO PATRONIZE THEIR FACILITIES , IT IS YOUR CHOICE .
    • fair123 3 months ago
      ur right James as a 25yr business owner... i know well over 350 people and most of there families, truth be told, 50% unemployed and of that 90% have, not by choice ,gone to get some level of government assistance for the first time... don't be stupid and blame obama, blame yourselves... stock market? whats that? haven't heard thous trade wind words from any one in 4 years...if its not tangible ur screwing yourself... quick fix, talk to me in 5-8 years, if fuel stays over 2.85 talk to me in 10-15 years...we'll be telling our kids about this ghost town in New York called wall street .... and the reinvention of the camel in Saudi Arabia...Occupy, i have the highest respect for you, want a real purpose? want to fix this economy...? nationalize the refineries.
  • me  •  Richardson, Texas  •  3 months ago
    You have got to be kidding right, this is a joke. Gas has went up everyday and you want to say but, wait crude is still under $100 a barrel we are so screwed. Wall St's continued greed and avarice has manipulated oil up to $100 a barrel. This is an enormous threat to the world’s economy! If you don't know it; listen up! Oil refineries all over the world are shutting down! Refineries in Hawaii, St Croix, Houston, Philly, Delaware, other places in the US, and Europe are shutting down! They’re shutting down for three reasons (1) The price of oil is too high. A refiner’s margins are so small at these high prices, not only can they not make money, most refineries have lost money. (Thanks speculators on Wall St!) (2) There is a glut of oil and distillates and no place left to store it. It’s been this way for a while (3 years). Some refineries are turning into oil storage facilities. They can make more money from renting tanks to banks and hedge funds than they can make by producing product. (3) Due to the European oil embargo on Iran, Iran is selling oil at a heavily discounted rate to Asian refineries who will sell refined products to us cheaper than American refineries. Bottom line; WE ARE SO SCREWED!!! If we aren’t drawn in to a war with Iran that affects the Strait of Hormuz , the bottleneck that much of the worlds oil has to pass through, then we’ll be affected by the refineries shutting down. Eventually, as our economies improve there will be terrible shortages of product. It takes time for refineries to come back on line. Expect shortages to skyrocket oil and distillates to the sky. Repeal the Commodities Modernization Act of 2000 and the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 and get speculators out of the Commodities markets!!!
    • Rusty 3 months ago
      Come on , the oil companies own the refineries and to keep prices up they shut down refineries . This is what the BUSH tax cuts for big oil did for our economy. That is why a gallon of milk for the children cost three times what it did in 2000.. Transportation of goods from the producers to the market . Deisel fuel is a bi product . So why is it so high priced ??? Ask the polititians who gave them big tax breaks to the RICH . They sell to the highest bidder and that being HONG CONG .Who are taking the American jobs . Maybe that is part of G W #$%$ Patriot ACt . Patriotic Red Communist . I wonder what Winston Churchill and F D R would do in this siuation ???. HARRY S TRUMAN. Those are the real patriots of what used to be the free world . The BUSH family has sold out the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA . Both sr. & jr. They are no better than the dictator , Hussein
    • Rusty 3 months ago
      I never use profanity or vulgar language , yet that is how it is displayed under my profile name . Yahoo has some people that need to be replaced .Iused G W B instead of G W BUSH now see what happens .
  • James  •  Troy, Michigan  •  3 months ago
    There's less milk than gasoline in this world and gas costs twice as much.
    • me 3 months ago
      Don't worry they will even it out about $10 a gallon.
  • James  •  3 months ago
    Improving economy? Where???
  • ace  •  3 months ago
    Glad to hear that Alex Kennedy of the Associated Press just recovered from his 10 year coma!
  • Thatdude  •  Port Orange, Florida  •  3 months ago
    This is a great time to own a bicycle.
  • Rusty  •  3 months ago
    I would like to put a cubic foot up the polititians pipes . How many miles can a chevy truck go on a 1000 cubic feet of natural gas ???
  • fair123  •  3 months ago
    hahahaha long run ur better off with cash and get out of this minipulated system...
  • Russell  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  3 months ago
    The US is not the only country with increasing need for refined oil. Not sure that this is a correct value system for supply and demand model. Not sure what I just said but with current supply and future supply stable with new in ground discoveries limited and changing useage and unless this government allows for increased production the prices are going to be up and down, with creaping upward trend. So looks like I'm going to pay more at the pump, while getting more retirement fund stocks.
  • Lucy  •  Redwood City, California  •  3 months ago
    oh! i do not care ,i just attention this site [wwwaffluentlovecom].
  • william  •  3 months ago
    Americans are becoming more savvy to the crap that's out there. Especially with oil. Government and oil are conjoined twins that will protect its interest at any cost. "We the people" are screwed. Why are we then still paying $3.50 + a gallon still, if oil is bellow $100?
  • william  •  3 months ago
    We should be the leader in renewable energy. But that is ship that has set sail. So very sad.
    • Rusty 3 months ago
      North America is the leader in renewable energy . But it is being sold to the highest bidder . Just like job-out-sourcing . It is going where they get the biggest bang for their BUCK .
 
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