Oil prices rose for a second straight day Tuesday as European leaders tried to find a way to clean up their financial mess.
Benchmark oil rose 31 cents to finish $84.29 per barrel in New York. The small gains over the past two days came after the price fell more than 8 percent last week as gloomy economic data from the U.S., China and Europe raised questions about the strength of demand for oil and other energy-related products.
Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, dropped 1 cent to end at $98.84 in London.
Finance ministers and central bank presidents of the world’s seven wealthiest countries held an emergency conference call Tuesday to discuss options being considered by European leaders, but no substantive details were announced. The U.S. has said it expects to see more action in the next two weeks to strengthen the European banking system.
Worries about European crisis have raised concerns about how it could affect the U.S. and other nations that do business with Europe. U.S. business owners cited a range of reasons for pulling back on hiring in May. Some said sales had been hurt by Europe’s weak economy.
New signs of the weaker economy emerged as Markit Economics reported that its composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for countries that use the euro fell last month from April. It was the steepest rate of decline in the region’s manufacturing and services production since June 2009.
U.S. service companies grew at a slightly faster pace last month. The Institute for Supply Management said that its index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 53.7 last month from 53.5 in April. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The survey covers retail, construction, financial services, health care and hotels, among other non-manufacturing businesses.
Most analysts expect demand for oil and other energy products to remain weak until there is a clear idea of how European leaders plan to control the financial crisis. U.S. oil supplies are at the highest level since 1990 while natural gas inventories are nearly 35 percent above the five-year average.
Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy &Economic Research, believes demand would be stronger if the U.S. economy were growing at a faster pace. Until then, he said it’s difficult to expect more than a mild pickup in demand.
In other energy futures trading, heating oil rose less than a penny to end at $2.63 per gallon, gasoline rose 1.4 cents to finish at $2.68 per gallon and natural gas rose 3.1 cents to $2.45 per 1,000 cubic feet.
At the pump, gasoline prices continue to fall. The national average for a gallon of regular fell 1.5 cents Tuesday to $3.57, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s about 21 cents less than a month ago.
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