Crude oil prices were lower in late morning trade in New York, after early gains to as high as $77.83 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude as the US dollar was weak in early trade. Later on, the dollar strengthened versus the euro and some other currencies, making oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies and thus a less attractive investment. At 11:15 a.m. local time, November contracts for WTI were down 77 cents to $75.72 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report Brent crude had dropped $1.04 to $77,83 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Declines in equities markets in the US and Europe also tended to push oil prices lower. Nymex October gasoline futures were 2 cents lower to $1.93 per gallon, while October heating oil futures also dropped 2 cents, to $2.11 per gallon and October natural gas futures were down 13 cents to $3.75 per million British thermal units. Meanwhile, the retail price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was down slightly overnight to $2.694 per gallon on average nationally. Prices at the pump are still highest in the western United States, including Alaska and Hawaii and in Illinois, while the drivers in places like Texas, much of the southern United States and some Atlantic seaboard states are paying the least, with drivers in Alaska paying the most, on average, and New Jersey drivers paying the least.

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