Crude At Lowest In A Month

NEW YORK — Crude oil prices dipped to their lowest levels in more than a month Friday, falling below $89 a barrel as investors sold amid signs of weakening demand and expectations that OPEC will boost production next week.
The slide in oil may mean consumers will see relief at the pump soon, analysts said. Gasoline and heating oil futures also dropped.
It was quite a turnaround for crude, which began the week pushing $100 a barrel but ended it by falling to its lowest levels since Oct. 25.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell $2.30 to settle at $88.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude prices are more than $10 below Monday’s high of $99.11 a barrel and the all-time high of $99.29 a barrel set last week. Prices continued falling Friday after the Nymex closed, dropping as low as $88.45 in electronic trading.
Oil’s downturn is good news for consumers, who will likely see lower gas prices in coming days, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.
“We’re looking at (gas prices) backing off quite a bit,” he said.
Gas prices could fall back to mid-October levels, when they averaged about $2.76 a gallon, Kloza said.
December heating oil futures fell 4.75 cents to settle at $2.5296 a gallon.
January natural gas futures fell 15 cents to settle at $7.302 per 1,000 cubic feet on the Nymex.