Crude drops on refinery restarts

The price of crude oil was lower on Monday as a refinery in Indiana and a pipeline from Texas to Illinois both returned to full operation, leaving the Kansas refinery closed by recent floods out of commission for the time being.

West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down 13 cents to $73.80 per barrel in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude August contracts, which expired at the end of Monday’s session, fell 93 cents to $76.64 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

Prices had been higher early in the session, but dropped after a report that the actions of speculators are one of the main reasons that oil prices have been remaining high.

Nymex August gasoline was lower as well, dropping 8 cents to $2.15 per gallon.

At-the-pump prices in the United States were also lower, dropping 0.4 cents to an average of $3.05 per gallon nationally according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Nymex September natural gas dropped 25 cents to $6.52 per million British thermal units after a report last week that inventories were up by more than anticipated again.