NEW YORK — Oil prices Monday fell to their lowest point this year and are down about 20 percent in two weeks as investors worry about the ripple effects of a debt crisis in Europe.
There is fear in equities and commodities markets that economic weakness in Europe could spread to the U.S. and hurt the global recovery. A drop in the euro has hurt the case for investing in oil.
The turnaround in oil prices has been sudden — crude hit an 18-month high of $87.15 a barrel during trading May 3. It settled Monday at $70.08 after dipping as low as $69.27. The plunge is similar to the fall from mid-January to early February, when prices fell from $84.95 to $69.50 per barrel.
The big difference now is that the latest decline occurred at the onset of summer driving season. That’s good news for U.S. motorists, who should soon see sharply reduced prices at the pump.
Gas has fallen 2 percent nationwide since peaking earlier this month at $2.93 per gallon. But that pace should pick up heading into the Memorial Day weekend and the summer driving season.
In Denver, gasoline prices averaged $2.694 Monday, a drop of 1.1 cents from a week ago.
