Crude oil heads higher on weak dollar

Key manufacturing indexes in China and the United States showed expanding business activity Monday. Oil prices have also found support from a weaker dollar. The dollar index on Tuesday morning fell 0.71 percent.

After hitting an overnight peak of $84.14, crude oil for December delivery simmered down slightly to $83.82 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1 from Monday. Heating oil prices added 2.25 cents to $2.3002 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock added 1.78 cents to $2.1107 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices lost 1.4 cents to $3.818 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.80 Tuesday, down from Monday's $2.803, AAA said.

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