Oil Resumes Slide

New York, May 22nd (TradersHuddle.com) - Following Monday's bullish action, oil futures resumed their losing ways on Tuesday on heightened tensions between the West and Iran and more concerns about the depth Europe's recession. NYMEX-traded crude for June delivery fell 91 cents to end the day at $91.66 per barrel. In London, Brent crude fell 40 cents to end at $108.41 per barrel in London. Both closing prices are within earshot of the 2012 closing lows set last Friday. A stronger dollar also plagued oil as the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP) jumped more than 1% on above average volume. Risk assets were again in danger on Tuesday as traders speculated Euro Zone economies are in danger of falling into deeper recessions than previously speculated. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a report today saying Europe's crisis could also hamper fragile recoveries in the U.S. and Japan, the world's largest and third-largest economies, respectively.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors said homes sales jumped 3.4% in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million. That's still below the 6 million economists deemed as indicative of a healthy housing market. That data point, while bullish, indicates oil remains beholden to international macroeconomic headwinds and that it will take a spate of good news out of the U.S. and China to boost crude going forward.

Oil futures also faltered ahead of Wednesday meeting where six Western powers will meet with Iran regarding the country's controversial nuclear program. Tensions between the West and Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, remain high the U.S. Senate approved a package of new economic sanctions on Iran's oil sector on Monday, Reuters reported.

U.S. equities traded higher for much of Tuesday's session only to see those gains evaporate in another late-day sell-off. That forced Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) to a small loss while Chevron (NYSE: CVX) lost 0.4% on below average volume. Nigeria, Africa's larges oil-producing country, said it expects exploration licenses for Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A), Europe's largest oil company, to be renewed by next month.

Shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), Colombia's state-run oil company, jumped more than 2% on strong turnover after the country said it expects to be producing an average of 1 million barrels per day by the end of this year. Colombia will pump an average of 970,000 to 980,000 barrels a day in May and June, according to officials. Colombia is South America's third-largest oil producer behind OPEC member Venezuela and Brazil.