TABJ - July 25 - Troubling talk emerged as U.S. lawmakers have proved unable to agree on a deal to tackle (and raise) the nation’s debt limit, in turn impacting on oil pricing and resulting in its first decline for five days.

The default deadline of August 2 may be missed, given comment by House Speaker John Boehner who told Republicans that no plan was in place to meet it, which sent futures down by approximately .9 per cent. The New York Mercantile Exchange saw crude futures for September delivery dwindle by up to 91 cents to $98.96 a barrel by electronic trading. Brent dropped by up to 68 cents to $117.99 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The weaker dollar continues to cause concern, particularly as Standard & Poor's reports that even if the U.S. were to find a solution in time for August 2, its AAA sovereign credit rating may well drop to AA+ if it can’t map out a “credible solution” for the overriding debt situation.