Prices for crude drop ahead of EIA data

Crude oil prices were lower Tuesday after gains Monday but remain 8 percent higher than they were a week ago and at least one analyst predicted that a barrel of oil could sell at around $60 before the end of May as the US summer driving seasons arrives.

June contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were 63 cents lower to $53.84 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude dropped 46 cents to $54.12 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

The US Energy Information Administration is expected to report Wednesday that crude oil stockpiles in the United States grew again last week on limited production by refiners.

If stockpiles did grow last week, crude oil in storage would be at another nearly two-decade record.

Nymex June gasoline and heating oil futures dropped a penny each, to $1.57 per gallon and $1.43 per gallon respectively, while June natural gas futures fell 11 cents to $3.62 per million British thermal units.