Crude Prices Fall More Than $3 Per Barrel

Crude oil prices fell more than $3 per barrel Tuesday, adding credence to analysts’ predictions average prices would decline next year.

Commodity analysts at Goldman Sachs had said crude oil would average $148 a barrel next year, The Wall Street Journal reported. On Sept. 16, they lowered their prediction to $123 per barrel. On Monday, however, they conceded the downward trend again. With oil prices down 44 percent from a July peak, Goldman cut next year’s prediction to $86 a barrel, the Journal said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday, prices fell $3.09 to $78.75 per barrel. Heating oil prices fell 0.067 cents to $2.2758 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline fell 0.0505 cents to $1.8845 per gallon. Natural gas prices gained slightly, up 0.048 cents to $6.755 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.163 Tuesday, down from Monday’s $3.206 a gallon, AAA said.