The Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — The price of oil fell back below $101 on Wednesday as investors shrugged off the impact of new sanctions on Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis.
Benchmark U.S. crude for June delivery shed 82 cents to $100.46 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after climbing to $101.28 in the previous session.
Brent crude, an international benchmark used to price oil used by many U.S. refineries, shed 28 cents to $108.70 in London.
New sanctions by Washington and the European Union on a group of Russian officials, executives and companies turned out not to be as severe as feared, with no public companies or major sectors of the economies affected.
Investors were looking ahead to U.S. job data due out Wednesday from payroll processing company ADP and the government’s unemployment report on Friday.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
— Wholesale gasoline declined 6 cents to $3 per gallon.
— Heating oil added one cent to $2.96 a gallon.
— Natural gas shed one cent to $4.82 per 1,000 cubic feet.