Oil prices are falling after the U.S. government said the country’s inventory of crude oil is stable.

The price of crude oil for future delivery fell almost $2.5 to about $69 a barrel during trading Wednesday in New York.

Oil prices had been falling in early trading on anticipation the country’s crude oil inventories would increase slightly.

The U.S. Energy Department says U.S. crude oil supplies held steady at about 312 million barrels.

Concerns about an economic recession have sent oil prices down more than 50 percent since hitting a record high of more than $147 a barrel in July. But oil prices have been heading higher in recent days.

The price of crude oil surged more than $6 Tuesday to close at more than $70 a barrel in trading in New York.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been cutting production in an effort to drive prices higher.

(Source: http://www.voanews.com/)

Lesson learned

ลองมาดูคำศัพท์ในช่วงเวลาของราคาน้ำมันที่ผันผวนกัน

Falling (v ing) – กำลังตกลง

Stable (adj) – คงที่

held steady– คงที่ (คล้ายๆ keep steady, keep + adj)

crude oil – น้ำมันดิบ

future delivery – การส่งมอบล่วงหน้า

crude oil inventories – คลังน้ำมันดิบ

an economic recession – การซบเซาทางเศรษฐกิจ

heading (v ing) – มุ่งไป

surged (v ed) = Rise rapidly – เพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว

cutting production – ลดกำลังการผลิต

drive prices higher – ผลักดันให้ราคาสูงขึ้น

Oil Prices Fall; US Inventories Stable