On Friday, due to the European banks stress tests and the continuing debt crisis, the oil prices dropped below $79 a barrel. The price was $78.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by early afternoon in Europe.

On Thursday, the oil prices settled at $79.30 per barrel, as the stock markets hiked due to higher earnings in the second quarter. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 2%. As a result, the European and Asian stock markets also jumped up on Friday.

In the second quarter, the economy of the country grew by 1.1%.

In NYMEX trading, heating oil dropped 0.80 cent to $2.0554 a gallon, gasoline decreased 1.36 cents to $2.1330 a gallon and natural gas chopped down 0.2 cent to $4.641 per 1,000 cubic feet. On the ICE futures exchange, Brent crude also climbed down by 35 cents to $77.47 a barrel.

Thursdays' improvement in the crude prices signaled improving global economic recovery.

JBC Energy said, "Fundamentally, physical crude and product markets continue to struggle with oversupplies amid limited activity". It further added that they may land into another downward cycle, with crude prices straggling around $80. As the economy is reflecting weak signs of recovery, there is no hope for further increase in the oil prices.