NEW YORK – Oil is falling again in volatile trading as investors try to gauge where the market is headed.
Energy trader Stephen Schork said nobody’s confident about their positions, after the benchmark contract dropped 15 percent last week. Oil gained more than 5 percent Monday, to $102.55 a barrel. It fell Tuesday morning to $102 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Analysts expect the government will report Wednesday that oil supplies grew for the third straight week, though analyst Phil Flynn says the Mississippi River flood could knock out some refineries and tighten supplies of high-quality crude.
Gas pump prices continue to retreat. The national average dropped nearly a penny to $3.95 per gallon.
AP