U.S. crude oil futures ended $1 a barrel lower in choppy trading Thursday, as traders weighed the day's dollar gain and lower oil demand amid a weakening economy
U.S. crude oil futures ended $1 a barrel lower in choppy trading Thursday, as traders weighed the day's dollar gain and lower oil demand amid a weakening economy.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude settled down $1.00, or 0.95%, at $103.83 a barrel, trading from $103.21 to $106.44. It gained $3.85 on Wednesday, lifted by a rally in gasoline futures as the dollar weakened.
In London, May Brent Blend stopped at $1.23, or 1.19%, at $102.52, after climbing from $102.01 to $104.50.
Nymex May RBOB gasoline declined after a record settlement on Wednesday, ending 4.93 cents, or 1.78%, lower at $2.7243 a gallon and trading from $2.7116 to $2.7750.
The gasoline crack spread finished down at $10.59, from $11.66 on Wednesday.
May heating oil settled down 2.82 cents, or 0.96%, at $2.9228 a gallon, trading from $2.9142 to $2.9896.
The heating oil crack spread ended at $18.93, down from $19.22 on Wednesday.
U.S. Energy Information Administration data released Wednesday said domestic crude stocks rose last week by 7.4 million barrels. Gasoline supplies fell by 4.5 million barrels and distillate stocks dropped by 1.6 million barrels.
But U.S. average implied oil demand over the first 13 weeks of 2008 was down more than 479,000 barrels per day compared with a year ago, according to the data.
