Crude futures weakened Monday as US dollar strength pushed front-month NYMEX crude below $50/barrel for the first time since April 6. NYMEX August crude fell as low as $49.85/barrel before climbing back over $50/b to settle at $50.15/b, down 74 cents. ICE September Brent settled 45 cents lower at $56.65/b. Refined product futures lacked direction. NYMEX August ULSD settled 57 points lower at $1.6584/gal, while NYMEX August RBOB settled 17 points higher at $1.9303/gal. The US dollar index reached 98.1 on Monday, a level not seen in almost three months, as the greenback gained ground on expectations the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates this year. Article continues below… Platts Global Alert is a complete real-time information service for the global energy industry, providing breaking reports of deals done, price indicators for crude and products and more than 200 end-of-day assessments. One factor limiting WTI’s declines Monday was […]