Oil prices fell slightly on Thursday, July 6 after reaching a record
closing high of $75.19 per barrel on Wednesday, July 7.
Light, sweet crude was trading at $74.80 per barrel by midday July 6 on
the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Forbes reported that a low inventory report from the Department of
Energy combined with unease over nuclear testing in North Korea helped push the
price to its record level.
Some analysts doubted the North Korea factor, however. One told Forbes
that traders were simply using the situation there as an excuse to drive up
prices and that North Korea would have “no immediate impact on crude supply and
demand as it’s not a producer or a major consumer of oil products.”
Meanwhile, the Energy Department said in its weekly report that crude
oil inventories are down by 2.4 million barrels to 342.3 million barrels.
However, that is still 3.6 percent higher than levels for the same time period
in 2005.
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