Oil Prices Fall For Sixth Straight Day As Crude Supplies Hit 22-Year High

NEW YORK -- The price of oil fell Wednesday for a sixth day as the U.S. government reported that crude supplies are the highest in 22 years.

Benchmark U.S. oil gave up 20 cents to finish at $96.81 per barrel in New York. The six-day drop is the longest for U.S. oil since July 2011.

Prices have been declining in reaction to new doubts about Europe's ability to fix its economy and disappointing jobs growth in the U.S. And as slowing economies temper the demand for oil, the amount of crude in storage rises.

On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration said that increased oil imports and weaker domestic demand for petroleum helped boost the nation's oil supply last week to 379.5 million barrels, the highest since 1990.

The Commerce Department also said U.S. wholesalers increased their stockpiles more slowly in March, hinting at a slowdown at the nation's factories.

"There's just an inherent mood out there for caution," said Peter Donovan, a broker with Vantage Trading.

Saudi Arabia also is boosting supplies in an effort targeted toward pushing world oil prices lower. And Iran is scheduled to meet in two weeks with several other countries including the U.S. to talk about its nuclear program. That has eased fears of a protracted standoff that could slow oil shipments out of the Middle East.

At the pump, retail gasoline prices fell by more than a penny to a national average of $3.75 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular unleaded has dropped an average of 19 cents in about a month. Gasoline is 21 cents cheaper than it was at the same time last year.

OPIS chief oil analyst Tom Kloza said that gasoline prices should gradually decline this summer. He estimates that the national average could slip as low as $3.50 per gallon by the Fourth of July.

In other futures trading, heating oil added nearly a penny to finish at $2.9991 per gallon and wholesale gasoline rose by 2.97 cents to end at $3.0241 per gallon. Natural gas added 7.2 cents to finish at $2.465 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude, which sets the price for oil imported into the U.S., added 47 cents to finish at $113.20 a barrel in London.

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Comments

[centauro962]

04:41 AM on 05/14/2012

The evil capitalists orchestrated the dependency on oil to the point that it will be a huge challenge to wean off from this dirty and poisonous fuel. One 42 gallon barrel of oil makes 19.4 gallons of gasoline, the rest, over half of it, are 6000 products, among them, some of them are shoved in your mouth like aspirin and pain killers, food coloring and additives, you rub it on your skin: cosmetics, lotions. The oil moguls have vanished, shunned or assassinated remarkable inventors or just bought and shelved technology that would freed of from this greedy capitalistic slavery.

[stemchek]

10:42 AM on 05/12/2012

Incidentally, with normal inflation, gas should be at $3 a gallon. Just a reference.

[GeneralBulldog]

03:44 PM on 05/10/2012

They're still too high. Someone's gouging the people and with not enough money to go around to pay for this high price gas, these reserves are going to be around for a while. One could hope big oil will lower their prices, but that's like asking for snow in Texas in July.

[Vyvjala]

12:27 PM on 05/10/2012

Corporate wealthcare republicans apparently consider falling gas prices to be unamerican.

[hertamania]

11:35 AM on 05/10/2012

I don't get it, gas was around $4.07 a week ago and up to $4.17 in So, CA. yesterday. I think Obama doesn't like the OC.

[timesrtough]

11:08 AM on 05/10/2012

Kharis posts: "You`re lying if you claim you`re not paying less for gas. "

Pennies less today compared to 3 years of overall dollars in increases.
Is that how you do you finances?

[monoloco]

10:17 AM on 05/10/2012

If anyone thinks that the Keystone pipeline will lower the cost of fuel, they should read this:
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-19-10/us-now-exporting-oil-oil-companies-are-gaming-system-keep-us-oil-prices-high

[Brandon Baier]

10:00 AM on 05/12/2012

F & Fed, this is the biggest farse on the hill I have seen in a while, not along while, but awhile. : /

[richh0501]

09:14 AM on 05/10/2012

regardless of the glut, regardless of the price, no one could deny the fact that we are a nation of energy pigs, we fully need at the strike of twelve everyday, not even taking into consideration any future growth, 23 million barrels of oil everyday of the year, the US has 5 % of the world population and we consume 25% of the total energy, we are being held hostage by our own glutteny, sad thing is we have the technology to change this, we have the capabilities to be energy self sufficient, yet we are content with being held prisoners because we are pigs.......

[madtxn]

09:13 AM on 05/10/2012

how many times have prices droped? every time prices rise, so does everything else, food, airlines, etc. how many reductions in everyday items drop when fuel goes down? NONE. this is the biggest cause of inflation. no one reduces their costs based on the decrease in fuel, but act immediately on the increase. greed, greed, greed....

[ken607]

08:56 AM on 05/10/2012

REPUBLICANS ARE SO INCOMPETENT: even with all their obstruction and attempts to sabotage the country they still cant make obama look bad. time after time. every topic.

[timesrtough]

11:03 AM on 05/10/2012

Facts you can check.
Any number of web sites.
Just type in History of Gas Prices, if you dare.
11-08 gas price at Nat’l average of $1.61
1-09 Consistent price increases to Nat'l average of $3.87
Any idea what happened 1-08 through today?

[Harpro208]

11:45 AM on 05/10/2012

Gas was cheap at the end of Dubya's Presidency because he had driven the economy into the toilet.

[ken607]

07:59 AM on 05/11/2012

YOUR FULL OF IT, when bush was installed by the supreme court gas was 1.65 and when he left the gas was 4.65. nice try liar.

[Sherylynne Klein]

11:10 AM on 05/10/2012

Correction: No one can make Obama look any worse than HE does. We are merely observers and victims.

[ken607]

08:01 AM on 05/11/2012

BS. obama has more posotives than ANY republican. after all when the repubs ran things the economy CRASHED. now its slowly but SURELY getting better. spread your lies elswhere.

[kharis]

08:41 AM on 05/10/2012

Thank You President Obama!!!!!!

[Atwill]

08:36 AM on 05/10/2012

I do not see it at the pump

[kharis]

08:41 AM on 05/10/2012

You`re lying if you claim you`re not paying less for gas.

[bahkey]

11:56 AM on 05/10/2012

LIAR

[usapaydirt]

08:30 AM on 05/10/2012

Every Empire has it's vulnerabilities , America's weakness is Energy cost, keep it affordable and we thrive and prosper, let it become to expensive and we begin to fall like a house of cards. I firmly believe this is the American Government's duty to regulate Energy commerce, to keep it Affordable thus keeping us strong and prosperous............

[Atwill]

08:36 AM on 05/10/2012

I agree

[averagetoolkit]

09:06 AM on 05/10/2012

I could'nt agree more. Thats exactly why it should'nt be traded on the exchange or atleast force the buyers and speculators to take "Physical Possession" of their buys. You have got to eleminate the paper oil trading to get acurate supply and demand numbers. .

[Angrykitteh]

08:20 AM on 05/10/2012

Okey dokey, so, I should see gas prices falling dramatically, but I'm not, if at all. Additionally, shouldn't all the products (think air fare) that claimed price increases based on the high cost of gas/.shipping go down too? But they're not.

Oh, well. Same old, same old.

[ken607]

08:54 AM on 05/10/2012

want stable economy then vote democratic. repubs are about get rich quick scams, hard work takes time. the recovery might not be happening fast enough but thats because the republican congress is dragging their feet. ever wonder why repubs didnt hold congress for over 60 years? and now since they started "governing(my way or no way)" the sytem started to fail wonder why?

[DevonTexas]

09:37 AM on 05/10/2012

excellent point. For all the GOP hot air and boasting, they have yet to administrate a growth economy. In fact, every time they've been in charge, they do more damage than good. It goes all the way back to Herbert Hoover. The GOP craps all over the economy and leaves it to the Democrats to clean up and, when it recovers, the GOP tries to claim credit for the work. Vote Democrat, keep America strong.

[rkller900]

08:14 AM on 05/10/2012

Why hasnt Diesel Fuel gone down? I know,,,, they are reaping in the profits right now,,, poor rich man.

[ejorillion]

08:31 AM on 05/10/2012

The cost to refine low sulphur diesel is very high, blame your local tree hugger and George Bush, why not he is the cause of all our problems according to the Obama administration

[muzzled]

08:37 AM on 05/10/2012

because 9 out of 10 cars going on the road for the first time run on diesel. Think China, think India, think about 20,000 more cars on the road today then yesterday and 20,000 more tomorrow then today. Most all run on diesel.