Crude oil set for third weekly decline

21 May 2010

Written by John King

Crude oil prices continued to fall on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (May 21st), on course for a third consecutive week of declines.

The headline crude commodity looked in danger of dipping below $70 a barrel once more this morning, while heating oil prices were also down in electronic trade.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Clarence Chu, an options trader at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore, said that the European debt crisis has altered attitudes on trading floors.

"People think Europe is still in big trouble. The same factors drive both equities and oil. People are panicking so they sell everything," he explained.

The euro has tanked against the dollar this year, making commodities such as crude and heating oil, which are priced in dollars, less attractive to foreign buyers.

However, the euro was recovering partially in trading this morning ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers later today, with traders hopeful the eurozone representatives will commit to further action to bring the debt crisis under control.