Crude prices gain on better sentiment

Crude oil prices were higher Tuesday as investors were more optimistic that a plan to help the Greek economy will be forthcoming soon.

Additionally, there were hopes that demand will improve, while the US dollar weakened to make oil less expensive for buyers making purchases with other currencies.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly US inventories report is due Wednesday, with most analysts expecting that both crude and gasoline stockpiles grew last week.

Right around the close of floor trade, April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had added 97 cents to $79.67 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after surpassing $80 per barrel earlier in the session, while Brent crude was up $1.17 to $78.06 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex April gasoline added 4 cents in afternoon trade to $2.20 per gallon, while heating oil futures were also up 4 cents, to $2.07 per gallon and natural gas gained 3 cents to $4.71 per million British thermal units.

The retail price of a gallon of gasoline, meanwhile, dropped 0.2 cent overnight to $2.703 per gallon an average nationally.