Oil prices have fallen by nearly three dollars in New York on Tuesday, falling to their lowest in nearly three months because of declining consumption of fuels in the USA and a rising of the dollar. On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of light sweet crude for delivery in September ended the session at $ 122.19, down 2.54 dollars compared to its closing price on Monday. The barrel of black gold came down to meeting at 120.42 dollars, its lowest level since May 6.
Compared to its absolute record $ -147.27 registered on July 11, a barrel of oil lost 25 dollars.
In London, a barrel of Brent for September delivery dropped 3.13 dollars, closing at 122.71 dollars. "Investors are focused on declining demand, including the USA, even if consumption continues to grow in emerging countries," said Thierry Lefrançois, an economist at Natixis. The consumption of gasoline at the pump fell for the fourteenth consecutive week last week to the USA, according to the weekly statement of the issuer of Mastercard credit cards issued Tuesday, while the traditional season of major car bat in full swing. This trend was confirmed by official statistics published yesterday, showing that the first five months of the year, the number of miles driven by motorists American fell to their lowest level since 2003. From 1983 to 2004 except during the first Gulf War in 1990-1991, the number of miles driven by Americans was still rising sharply.
In addition, analysts predict a continuous replenishment of stocks of gasoline in the USA during the week ending July 25. The USA, which swallowed up about 20% of global production, are the first consumer global black gold. Prices have also suffered from a stronger dollar, the currency in which crude is sold, against the euro, said analysts. One euro worth 1.55 dollars Tuesday, more than 1.57 against the previous day. A revaluation of the greenback is likely to deter investors off dollar zone, which is often to purchase raw materials to protect the value of their portfolios when the dollar is crumbling.
If the dollar continues to strengthen and if geopolitical tensions calm in the Middle East, prices are currently "abnormal", will be about 78 dollars a barrel, said Tuesday in Jakarta, Indonesia Chakib Khelil, Algerian Minister of Energy and president of the Organization of oil-producing countries (OPEC) 40% of world production of crude oil.
