NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped sharply Monday, falling under $108 per barrel after Saudi Arabia said it had cut production in March.
Daily Finance reported Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said production was trimmed by 800,000 barrels a day to 8.292 million barrels per day in March, despite reassurances the country would raise production to make up for the loss of oil from strife-torn Libya.
Oil ministers are now saying supply issues are not the primary cause of recently spiking oil prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"The best thing to do is to curb some speculation and also reduce taxes," OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said before an Organization of Oil Exporting Countries meeting in Kuwait City.
The dollar index rose 0.9 percent Monday, putting pressure on commodities priced in U.S. dollars. The dollar rose on election news from Finland in which a conservative party, the True Finns, gained seats in government, making it possible Finland would veto European Union assistance for Portugal.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday, May delivery West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices dropped $2.27 or 2.3 percent to $107.39 per barrel. Home heating oil prices lost 4.65 cents through the weekend, but gains some back to reach $3.1865 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices added 0.42 cents from a recent settlement to reach $3.257 per gallon. Natural gas prices lost 0.1 cents to $4.137 per million British thermal units.
At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline rose to $3.833 per gallon from Sunday's $3.827, AAA said.
