Oil hovered above $80 a barrel Thursday June 28, 2012 in Asia amid signs the U.S. economy, the world's largest crude consumer, may be improving.

Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 10 cents at $80.31 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 85 cents to settle at $80.21 in New York on Wednesday.

In London, Brent crude for August delivery was down 40 cents at $93.10 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Read more »

A "build" and a "Twist" knocked oil prices to the floor on Wednesday July 20, 2012.

In the morning, the government announced a surprise increase, or build, in U.S. oil supplies. That told investors that America has a bounty of crude and less need to import more from foreign countries. Then the Federal Reserve extended an interest-rate reduction program known as Operation Twist, but declined to take more aggressive steps to boost the economy.

Together, they sent the price of oil to a nine-month low. Read more »

Oil prices slipped on Friday June 8, 2012 as the euro zone's debt crisis and dimming hopes for U.S. monetary stimulus reinforced concern about petroleum demand, but disappointing talks between Iran and the U.N.'s nuclear agency limited losses.

The intraday recovery allowed both Brent and U.S. crude to post weekly gains, snapping a string of five straight weekly losses. Read more »

The price of oil dropped below $88 a barrel Wednesday May 30, 2012, hitting a seven-month low, as fiscal worries in Europe sparked a broad sell-off across markets.
 

In New York, oil prices finished at $87.49 a barrel, down $2.94, or 3.2%, from Tuesday. It was the lowest closing price for crude since Oct. 21. Read more »