NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices retreated for the fifth straight day Tuesday as the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2% to $98.30. It's come down from nearly $110 last week, though it's still far above the roughly $72 it was fetching earlier this summer.
The price for a barrel of U.S. crude fell $2.38 and dipped below $90 for the first time this month. Brent crude slid $2.04. There are reports that Saudi Arabia is working to re-open its east-west pipeline, which was damaged in attacks.
That is still almost $30 more per barrel compared with this time last year, and dozens of countries have implemented fuel switching and work-from-home programs to ease the burden for people living there. But prices are down from close to $110 reached last week.
Oil prices have been swinging as some crude passed through the Strait of Hormuz to get to customers, though nowhere near as much as the industry would like because of conflicts in the Middle East.
The recent decline in oil prices has helped relieve some of the pressure that rising bond yields had been putting on the market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased further to 4.93% early Tuesday after crossing above the 5% threshold last week for the first time since 2023.
Yields have been on the rise because of worries about inflation, big debt loads for governments worldwide and other factors. That hurts the economy because high yields make it more expensive not only for the U.S. government to borrow money to pay its bills but also for households and businesses.
