Oil drops below US$100 for 1st time since July

Source: Agencies | October 22, 2013, Tuesday |

Online Edition

Oil dropped below US$100 a barrel yesterday for the first time since early July as US supplies keep rising and the risks of disruption to Middle East shipments subside.

US benchmark crude fell US$1.59, or 1.6 percent, to close at US$99.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has now dropped 8 percent in the month of October.

The nation's crude oil supplies rose by 4 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 11, the government said yesterday, in a report that was delayed five days due to the government shutdown. Analyst expected a smaller increase of 2.25 million barrels. US refinery output has slowed from a torrid pace over the summer, reducing demand for oil.

At 374.5 million barrels, the US crude oil supply was 1.4 percent above year-ago levels and the highest since July, as of Oct. 11. The supply report for last week will be released Wednesday.

Other factors weighing on oil prices in the past weeks include the agreement to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons and apparent progress between Iran and world powers.

"Can anyone remember a time where the possibility of a potential future attack on Iran did not figure into the equation of the price of oil?" wrote Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The PRICE Futures Group, in a note to clients.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped 30 cents to US$109.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 2 cents to US$2.65 a gallon.

— Natural gas dropped 10 cents to US$3.67 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Heating oil shed 2 cents to US$3.01 a gallon.

Energy

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Oil drops below US$100 for 1st time since July

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