Crude Oil Prices Fall to Nearly Four-Month Low

Crude oil prices fall to nearly four-month low

NEW YORK, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) — World oil prices fell to the lowest close on Friday since July 21 amid an unseasonably warm weather and a depressed demand wrought by this autumn’s record high prices.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, fell 27 cents to close at 57.53 dollars a barrel, its lowest finish since July 21, a 5 percent loss for the week.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for December delivery shed 69 cents to end at 54.99 dollars a barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, heating oil for December fell 2 cents to close at 1.7235 dollars a gallon. December gasoline fell about 2 cents at 1.485 dollars a gallon. Natural gas rose 33.2 cents to 11.712 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

AccuWeather, a State College, Pa.-based weather forecaster, said warm air will blanket most of the country this weekend before cold weather finally arrives next week. By the middle of next week, the Great Lakes and New England should see freezing temperatures and possibly snow, AccuWeather predicted.

The International Energy Agency revised downward its forecast of global oil demand for 2005 Thursday from 83.4 million barrels per day to 83.3 million barrels per day. The agency also cut its estimate for 2006 world oil demand to 85.01 million barrels a day, down 140,000 barrels.

US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday crude oil inventories rose 4.5 million barrels to 323.6 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 4 from a week earlier. Crude oil supplies have been rising steadily for the past five weeks.