Oil prices tumble below $105
Oil prices dived under $105 on Tuesday reaching four-month lows, after Hurricane Gustav spared key energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and the US currency strengthened, analysts said.
By PTI |
LONDON: Oil prices dived under $105 on Tuesday reaching four-month lows, after Hurricane Gustav spared key energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and the US currency strengthened, analysts said.
"Hurricane Gustav weakened once it reached the US Gulf Coast, putting pressure on the energy market," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an oil analyst at the Sucden brokerage in London.
"The much feared hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and the dollar reached a 10-month high against a basket of major currencies (Tuesday), also helping to push oil prices lower," he added.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October, dropped as much as USD 10 to USD 105.46 a barrel from its closing level on Friday.
It then rallied a little to stand at USD 108.30, down USD 7.16 from Friday. US markets were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
Brent North Sea crude for October fell to USD 104.14 at one stage today, hitting levels last seen on April 4. It later recovered to stand at USD 107.34, a fall of USD 2.07 from yesterday's close.
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Hurricane Gustav has weakened to a tropical depression as it blows across Louisiana after having ripped through the Caribbean as a powerful storm, the National Hurricane Center said today. The storm had slammed ashore on Monday as a Category Two hurricane packing winds of 175 kilometers per hour but Gustav has steadily weakened overland.
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