Oil slips below $82 after gaining for one month (AP) (19-03-2010)

Oil prices drifted below $82 a barrel Friday as a stronger dollar hurt the 1-month rally on mostly positive news about the U.S. economy.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for April delivery was down 49 cents to $81.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 73 cents to settle at $82.20 on Thursday.

Crude jumped to $83 a barrel earlier this week from $69 early last month on expectations sluggish consumer demand will eventually catch up with a steadily improving U.S. economy.

Oil prices "remain in the relatively narrow band of $10-$15, where they have been hovering since last October," said JBC Energy in Vienna. "Support is coming from the increasingly optimistic economic outlook as reflected in the healthy development of equity markets."

In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil fell 1.76 cent to $2.1015 a gallon, and gasoline was down 1.69 cents to $2.840 a gallon. Natural gas rose 3.5 cents to $4.120 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was down 58 cents at $80.90 on the ICE futures exchange.

Source: AP