Crude oil prices decline substantially

Declines in demand sent crude oil prices lower Tuesday, as did new strength in the dollar and the end of a refinery strike in Scotland.

In afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, June contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had dropped $2.85 to $115.90 per barrel while Brent crude was down $2.81 to $113.93 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex May gasoline was down 11 cents to $2.92 per gallon and June heating oil fell 5 cents to $3.24 per gallon while June natural gas dropped 42 cents to $10.91 per million British thermal units.

June gold was down $18.70 to $876.80 per troy ounce in New York, its lowest since the beginning of April, while July silver was 49 cents lower to $16.63 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped $36.60 to $1,942 per troy ounce as the demand for metals as a hedge against inflation declined.

Copper prices were also lower even though London Metal Exchange stockpiles dropped during the day and the strike against Codelco, the state-owned copper miner in Chile, continued.

July copper was down 5 cents to $3.88 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $100 to $8,550 per tonne in London.

Grains prices also declined, with July wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade falling 31 cents to $8.10 per bushel after a new report said that conditions for winter crops had improved, easing worries of global shortages.

Meanwhile, CBOT July corn was down 8 cents to $6.05 per bushel and July soybeans were down 4 cents to $12.93 per bushel.

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