Economic Concerns Keep Oil Prices Low

Oil prices continued a three-day decline Tuesday, falling 2.5% to $82.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by 7 p.m. Eastern time. Overall, crude prices for December delivery have slid about 6% since Thursday, when South Korea raised interest rates to reduce inflation and reports surfaced that China may take steps to boost its economic growth, the Associated Press reported.

Concerns of lower demand from the global economy have caused the drop, which has wiped out most of the gains oil prices saw in November. Prices had grown 7% between Nov. 1 and Nov. 11, hitting a two-year high, according to the AP.

Meanwhile, U.S. gas prices rose 9.8% in October, the U.S. Labor Department said in a separate statement Tuesday.