West Texas Intermediate, the standard for oil prices, increased by 0.21% yesterday on the commodity exchange in New York and closed at US$89.38, the highest level in more than two years. However, prices for gasoline and heating oil were down just a bit. Natural gas was slightly higher. The commodities market was listening to the words of the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, who left open the possibility of purchasing US$600 billion in T-bills to ensure lower interest rates and a sustained economic recovery. According to El Caribe, Bernanke also said that it might take as long as four or five years to recover “normal levels” of unemployment – around 6% – which is now at 9.8%. Oil went up in spite of a stronger dollar against the euro, which went from US$1.3411 on Friday to US$1.3314 on Monday. Generally speaking, a stronger dollar tends to push oil prices down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
West Texas Intermediate, the standard for oil prices, increased by 0.21% yesterday on the commodity exchange in New York and closed at US$89.38, the highest level in more than two years. However, prices for gasoline and heating oil were down just a bit. Natural gas was slightly higher. The commodities market was listening to the … <\/p>\n