Oil Prices Plummet Below 60 Dollars

Oil prices plummet below 60 dollars NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — World crude oil prices fell Tuesday to below 60 dollars per barrel, their lowest levels this year, on the eve of U.S. energy stockpiles weekly report.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, lost 1.67 dollars to 59.57 dollars per barrel,the lowest close for front-month oil futures since Dec. 27.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for March delivery fell 1.30 dollars to 59.32 dollars per barrel

On the New York Mercantile Exchange,the heating oil slid 2.86 cents to close at 1.61 dollars a gallon, while gasoline lost 4. 63 cents to settle at 1.3849 dollars a gallon, the lowest closing price since Feb. 28. Natural gas fell 12.9 cents to 7.114 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet. U.S. Department of Energy will release its latest weekly report of energy stockpiles Wednesday. Traders anticipate that it would likely show climbing oil stocks for the seventh straight week. U.S. commercial inventory of crude oil is 11 percent above year-ago levels.

Crude futures prices gained almost 9 percent in January and hit 69.20 dollars in New York on January 23 but have since declined on rising U.S. energy inventories and milder than expected weather in the northern hemisphere winter. U.S. National Climatic Data Center said last month was America’s warmest January on record. Traders are still concerned about the possibilities that Iran’s oil exports would halt if the United Nations Teheran an international sanctions for its nuclear activities.