Oil prices
hold steady
Oil prices were steady Tuesday, holding above $82 a barrel as a report on consumer confidence turned out better than expected. Benchmark crude for May delivery rose 20 cents to settle at $82.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude added 11 cents to settle at $81.28 on the ICE futures exchange. Crude prices have stabilized after a raucous 2008, when a barrel of oil soared above $147 in the summer and then tumbled below $33 in the winter. Oil has wavered between $70 and $80 a barrel for the past several months. That trend will likely continue without any major news about the economy’s recovery, analysts said.
