Oil near US$100
NEW YORK, United States — OIL rose yesterday as US lawmakers laboured to strike an agreement on the country’s debt limit and the dollar weakened on uncertainty about the economy.
While congressional leaders bickered over spending and raising the borrowing limit ahead of an August 2 deadline, oil traders took their cues for buying and selling contracts from other financial markets instead of supply-and-demand basics.
The dollar fell sharply against the euro and other currencies yesterday. That tends to raise the price of oil, since crude is priced in dollars and a weaker dollar makes oil more of a bargain for traders using other currencies.
Oil’s gains were held in check by drooping stock markets and new reports that showed the economic recovery remained sluggish. New homes sales fell one per cent in June, according to the government. And US consumer confidence improved a little in July but remained weak overall, according to a monthly survey by The Conference Board.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 39 cents to settle at US$99.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude gained 34 cents to settle at US$118.28 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The uncertainty about what will happen with the US debt ceiling and a possible default is making “some of the traders seesaw back and forth”, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research.
He thinks that oil prices will drift in a narrow range, perhaps fall US$1 a day until there is a resolution about the debt limit.
When a deal is completed, traders will pay more attention to supplies, demand and expectations for the economy through the rest of the year, he said.
Energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch also speculated that oil will climb above US$100 a barrel when an agreement is reached.
In other Nymex contracts for August, heating oil rose less than a cent to settle at US$3.1251 a gallon, gasoline gained 1.68 cents to settle at US$3.0985 a gallon and natural gas fell 2.4 cents to settle at US$4.331 per 1,000 cubic feet.
