Crude oil drops on stronger dollar

The price of crude oil was lower Tuesday ahead of a weekly inventories report from the US Energy Information Administration which is expected to show that crude oil stockpiles were lower last week but that gasoline inventories were up during the week.

Gains for the US dollar that made oil more expensive for buyers using currencies other than the dollar and a new consumer confidence survey from the Conference Board that showed US consumers less confident about the economy also tended to push prices lower.

August contracts for West Texas Intermediate were down $2.21 to $69.28 per barrel a few minutes before the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In afternoon trade, Nymex August gasoline futures were 3 cents lower to $1.90 per gallon while August heating oil dropped 5 cents to $1.78 per gallon and August natural gas dropped 10 cents to $3.84 per million British thermal units.