Commodity Corner: Crude Oil Settles Lower on Weaker Euro

Crude oil on the January contract ended the day at $81.74, a .24 cent decline from Friday, as the euro slipped 0.4 percent against the greenback. Although Ireland has agreed to a bailout plan from the European Union to shore up its banks amid a serious debt crisis, lingering concerns that Portugal and Spain are the next EU countries in line for bailouts were bearish for the euro. Because oil is priced in dollars, a stronger dollar makes it less attractive to buyers holding other currencies.

January crude traded within a range from $80.68 to $82.87 Monday. Oil settled at $81.51 Friday on the December contract, which has expired.

The National Weather Service expects the Midwest and Northeast to experience colder than normal temperatures through next week. Given the regions' anticipated greater electricity demand during this period, December natural gas settled 11 cents higher at $4.27 per thousand cubic feet. It traded from $4.125 to $4.28.

Although the American Automobile Association expects more motorists to be on the road for this year's Thanksgiving holiday, December gasoline ended the day a nickel lower at $2.15 per gallon. The front month gasoline price fluctuated Monday from $2.13 to $2.215.

Posted courtesy of Rigzone.Com

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