Today’s price for a gallon of unleaded gas in Kitsap County is $3.75, pretty much unchanged for the week, but up a nickel from a month ago, and up 67 cents from a year ago, says the AAA. The highest price ever recorded in Kitsap was on June 19, 2008, when it was $4.37. Here’s where oil is heading today. Rachel Pritchett
Oil price drops below $98 per barrel
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil dropped below $98 per barrel
Monday as investors continued to worry about Europe’s debt
problems.
Benchmark crude fell $1.45 to $97.54 per barrel in New York, while
Brent crude, used to price many international varieties, lost $2.21
at $111.95 per barrel in London.
The European debt crisis has yanked oil prices up and down for the
past few months as traders assess whether massive debt burdens in
Greece and Italy will mean bank failures and perhaps another
recession. An economic slowdown across the region would mean weaker
demand for oil.
Both countries have named economists as prime ministers, hoping
they will shepherd them from the brink of default. Yet high
interest rates on Italian bonds indicate a lack of confidence in
the economy, according to PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn.
No matter what those political leaders do, “the European economy is
going to slow down,” Flynn said.
U.S. stocks pulled back on Monday after last week’s rally. The
major indexes were down about 1 percent in midday trading.
In other energy trading, heating oil was flat at $3.17 per gallon,
and gasoline futures lost 7 cents at $2.53 per gallon. Natural gas
fell 10 cents to $3.49 per 1,000 cubic feet.
