Crude Oil Dips Below $69 Per Barrel

High-quality crude oil fell below the psychologically significant $60 per barrel mark Thursday in London trading.

So-called Brent crude on the International Petroleum Exchange fell 67 cents to $59.45, the Financial Times reported.

In New York, a barrel of similar crude oil fell 1.4 percent to $61.90 per barrel.

Gasoline on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped about 2 percent to $1.87 per gallon, and heating oil drifted down slightly to $1.9833 per gallon.

Natural gas, however, rose 1.6 cents.

The generally downward movement in energy prices reflects the slow resumption of production and refining operations from storm-battered sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron Corp., for example, said Thursday it was restarting its 325,000 barrel-per-day Pascagoula, Miss., refinery.