Oil dips below $88 as prices at the pump climb

The price of oil is falling this morning after the head of the European Central Bank disappointed investors by failing to take immediate action to prop up the euro zone economy. ECB President Mario Draghi said last week that he would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro. Draghi was expected to quickly back that up with a plan to spark spending and borrowing in the European Union. So far he hasn’t delivered. In a speech today, Draghi suggested the ECB could buy bonds to lower borrowing costs for European countries, but he offered no specific measures. Benchmark crude gave up $1.04 on the news, to $87.87 per barrel, while Brent crude rose 23 cents to $106.19 per barrel in London. Retail gasoline prices across the United States rose 1.3 cents to $3.53 per gallon. Since mid-June, motorists in Baton Rouge have seen prices rise about 20 cents per gallon. As of this morning, the local average was $3.39 per gallon, according to BatonRougeGasPrices.com, a subsidiary of GasBuddy.com, which tracks average prices at 250 cities throughout the country. Check out the website here for local station-by-station prices.