Oil falls below $ 100 a barrel for the first time since early May
The price of West Texas Intermediate oil fell by almost 10% on Tuesday, falling below $ 98 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell more than 10% to less than $ 102 a barrel.
This is the first time WTI has been below $ 100 since May 11th. It was also the last time Brent, which usually trades a little higher, was below $ 102 a barrel. Brent earned as little as $ 101.10 a barrel in afternoon trading on Tuesday before reversing some of the decline. But it was still below the $ 102 mark, down from the end of Monday at $ 113.50 a barrel. Brent has not been below $ 100 since April 25th.
Wholesale gas futures also fell, falling 35 cents per gallon in dinner trading, or 9% for the day.
The national average cost of a gallon of gas at the pump is now $ 4.80, according to the latest AAA reading, down one penny from Monday and 8 cents from a week ago. Gas prices peaked at $ 5.02 per gallon on June 1[ads1]4.
The growing fear of the chances of a recession is the primary driver for the latest sales in oil and gasoline futures, said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for OPIS.
Until fairly recently, oil and petrol investors had believed that there was little in the way of market forces to keep prices in check in the short term. “It’s now a perceived huge downward risk associated with recession risk, “he said.
This story is under development and will be updated.
