Oil Falls Below $76 a Barrel
Oil fell more than $2 Tuesday to below $76 a barrel, following reports that the Chinese economy was expanding less than forecast, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures fell $2.31 to close the day at $75.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said. Oil closed over $78 on both Friday and Monday.
Friday’s $78.86 Nymex closing price was the highest since May 5, when oil futures closed at $79.97 a barrel.
Despite the relatively high price, diesel’s national average slipped a half-cent this week to $2.956 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The New York-based Conference Board estimated Tuesday that China’s economy was expanding at a 0.3% rate, lower than the 1.7% gain reported earlier this month, Bloomberg said.
