Crude oil fell in New York, retreating from the record $140.39 a barrel reached yesterday...
Crude oil fell in New York, retreating from the record $140.39 a barrel reached yesterday, as the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at curbing excessive energy-market speculation.
The bill, which passed 402-19, would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to consider using position limits, or constraints on the size of the stake each speculative investor can own, and raising margin requirements, the amount of money required to trade. The vote came after the record was set.
Crude oil for August delivery fell as much as $1.03, or 0.7 percent, to $138.61 a barrel in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $139.38 a barrel at 9:35 a.m. Singapore time.
Yesterday, oil rose $5.09, or 3.8 percent, to $139.64 a barrel, a record settlement price, as Libya threatened to cut output, OPEC's president said prices may reach $170 by the summer and the dollar weakened. Yesterday's all-time-high intraday price surpassed the $139.89 reached June 16.
Oil futures have moved by 2 percent or more on half of the trading days this month. Prices veered 43.4 percent from the 30- day average yesterday, the highest volatility in 16 months, according to Bloomberg data. Volatility is a measure of how far the price of a commodity such as oil deviates from average closing prices over a prior period, such as 30 or 60 days.
