Oil Prices Fall as Hope of Quick Recovery Wanes

By JAD MOUAWAD
NYT

Oil prices briefly fell under $60 a barrel on Thursday after nearly two weeks of uninterrupted declines, as traders and investors acknowledged that a global economic recovery would take longer than hoped.

But at the end of a volatile trading session, crude oil futures pared their losses, and closed at $60.41 a barrel, up 27 cents, after falling as low as $59.25 a barrel in New York. The price of oil had fallen by about $10 a barrel in the last six trading days, or nearly 17 percent.

Oil rose to $72.68 a barrel in June, its highest trading close this year on optimism about a fast recovery.

Thursday’s session follows the release of a weekly report from the Department of Energy showing a substantial increase in gasoline inventories in the United States, with total oil inventories reaching their highest level since 1990. The report, widely viewed as bearish for oil markets, also signaled weaker-than-expected consumption.

(More here.)