Oil Down on Strengthening Dollar

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | December 22 2009 5:39 AM

Crude futures fell Monday as the Dollar strengthened, offsetting gains on colder weather expectations and geopolitical worries. Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled 89 cents lower at $72.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touched an intraday high of $74.32 a barrel. The contract expired on Monday. Crude for February delivery settled 70 cents, or 0.9%, lower at $73.72 a barrel. Oil prices were supported recently by the massive snowfall in the U.S and Europe as well as geopolitical concerns in Iraq and Nigeria.

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Today investors should pay attention to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Luanda, Angola, where they will discuss production levels. While quotas are expected to stay unchanged this might still affect negatively on Oil levels as supply is still abundant.