Oil slips, but gas keeps climbing

chart_ws_commodity_energy_heatingoil.top.pngClick the chart for more market data. By Ben Rooney, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil prices came under pressure Monday, tumbling below $104 a barrel, but gasoline prices continued to move higher nationwide.

The main U.S. oil futures contract, West Texas Intermediate, for May delivery dropped $1.42 to settle at $103.98 a barrel. Brent crude, the European benchmark, fell 92 cents to $114.87 a barrel.

Gasoline prices, however, rose Monday for the sixth day in a row. The national average price for a gallon of regular gas edged up six tenths of a cent overnight to $3.584, according to motorist group AAA.

The national average gas price has increased nearly 4 cents over the last six days, and prices are up more than 51 cents since the start of the year. Gas prices have risen sharply as prices for crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, have surged firmly above $100 a barrel on supply concerns stemming from the volatile political shifts in the Arab world.

Oil prices rose near the top of a recent range last week, climbing above $106 a barrel on Thursday, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty surrounding Japan's nuclear crisis.

But prices were lower Monday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and Libyan opposition fighters regained ground following coalition airstrikes on forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

The opposition in Libya appeared to have taken control of the key oil town of al-Brega on Monday, raising speculation that exports from Africa's third largest crude exporter could resume soon.

A spokesman said over the weekend that the opposition plans to begin exporting oil "in less than a week," according to published reports.

Ali Tarhoni, the rebel representative responsible for economy, finance and oil, told reporters at a press conference that Libya could "easily" increase oil production to 300,000 barrels per day, from current levels between 100,000 to 130,000 barrels per day.

The civil war in Libya has severely curtailed oil exports from the North African nation, which produced some 1.6 million barrels per day last year.

But investors are also concerned about increasingly violent anti-government movements in Yemen, Bahrain and now Syria. The worry is that more oil production could be lost if those nations follow the same trajectory as Libya.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose against the euro after the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered losses in a regional election. The greenback also strengthened against the British pound and Japanese yen.

A stronger dollar often pressures prices for commodities that are priced in the U.S. currency, such as crude oil.

"Crude oil prices slid slightly lower, in a correction, receiving some pressure from a strong U.S. dollar," said Myrto Sokou, an analyst at Sucden Financial. "However, ongoing political unrest in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain continue to provide some support to crude oil prices."

-- The CNN Wire Service contributed to this report.  To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.