Crude prices climb up on chances of a lower dollar

Prices end more than 1% higher for the week

Crude oil gained steam in the afternoon session on Friday, 15 July 2011 and recovered almost one point as it rose through the $97 mark. Prices of crude for August delivery added $1.55, or 1.6%, to close at $97.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange which is about a half of a point under its session high. Prices rose as lingering concerns over the potential for U.S. and euro-zone debt defaults hinted at a lower dollar in coming months. For the week, crude gained 1.1%.



In the currency market on Friday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, stayed steady and ended flat for the day.

The Commerce Department in US reported on Friday, 15 July 2011 that the consumer-price index fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in June, matching expectations on Wall Street. CPI dropped as gasoline prices fell 6.8%. Energy costs sank 4.4%, the largest decline since December 2008 as the price of gas and household electricity decreased. Excluding the energy sector, prices rose 0.2% in June.

August heating oil on Friday tacked on 3 cents to close at $3.12 a gallon, up 0.7% for the week. August gasoline was up less than a penny to close at $3.13 a gallon, ending the week 1.2% higher.

August natural gas closed up 17 cents, or 3.8%, to $4.55 per million British thermal units. It tallied a weekly gain of 8.1%.