Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Saaniya Bangee
Crude oil futures continued to retreat Tuesday as economic concerns weighed on the market.
At its lowest in more than a month, light, sweet crude settled lower at $93.79 a barrel, down $1.10 from yesterday. Tuesday's trading session reached lows last seen on June 28.
Early Tuesday, a U.S. Commerce Department report showing a drop in consumer spending for the first time in nearly two years weighed down oil prices. The report also showed that incomes barely rose for the month of June.
Analysts believe that the series of negative economic data is overshadowing the U.S. deficit-cutting package.
The Brent contract traded between $115.77 and $118.36, before settling at $116.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. The 35-cent day-on-day drop came on supply disruptions in the North Sea and a refinery fire in Taiwan.
Futures for September natural gas decreased 3.3 cents Tuesday, closing at $4.155 per thousand cubic feet. According to the National Hurricane Center, the Caribbean's latest storm Tropical Storm Emily could pick up strength in a day or two; but, as of now, the storm poses a low threat to the Gulf's output. Approximately 7.4 percent of the U.S. natural-gas production lies in the Gulf of Mexico.
Natural gas prices fluctuated between $4.135 and $4.23, maintaining a similar trading range to Monday's session.
Gasoline blendstock for September delivery dropped for a fifth consecutive session, closing at $3.04 a gallon.
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