The price of a barrel of crude oil for December delivery settled at $82.52 Monday, a 83 cent increase from the previous session. The increase stems largely from the weakening of the U.S. Dollar, which fell 0.34% against the euro Monday. Pending Federal Reserve action to increase the U.S. money supply in order to buy more federal government debt has placed downward pressure on the dollar. A weaker dollar tends to boost demand for oil from buyers holding other currencies.
Contributing to the bullish sentiment for oil was a report showing that existing home sales in the U.S. increased 10% last month. According to the National Association of Realtors, a housing recovery is occurring albeit in the early stages. An official with the trade group said the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium will influence how "choppy" the recovery will be. December crude traded from $81.45 to $83.28 Monday.
Milder than normal temperatures in typically heating depending U.S. regions such as the Northeast and Midwest have quashed demand for natural gas recently. Monday was no exception to this trend, with November natural gas settling a penny lower at $3.32 per thousand cubic feet. The front month gas price fluctuated between $3.29 and $3.40.
Labor unrest at French refineries and fuel depots is expected to reduce gasoline exports to the U.S. market. As a result, November gasoline futures rose two cents to settle at $2.08 a gallon. Gasoline peaked at $2.10 and bottomed out at $2.05.
Coutesy of
Rigzone.Com
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