Oil prices dip below $75 a barrel as gas pump prices fall further
— -- Oil prices dipped below $75 a barrel Wednesday, a new 13-month low, and the average retail price for gasoline fell nearly 4 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.125.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $2.95 to $75.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange fter earlier sliding to $74.57, the lowest trading level since Sept. 5, 2007.
The drop came as OPEC reduced its 2009 petroleum demand forecast amid signs that the global economy is headed for a severe downturn.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said rich nations in 2009 are expected to need only 400,000 barrels a day more oil than this year, whereas demand from developing countries will increase by an estimated 1.1 million barrels, with most of that growth coming from China, the Middle East and India.
OPEC's report comes about a month before the cartel is scheduled to hold a special meeting to discuss ways to deal with oil's slide, including the possibility of tightening output. OPEC controls 40% of the world's oil supply, though analysts say a cutback in OPEC production likely would not dramatically alter crude's downward direction.
Oil prices have now plummeted 48% since peaking at $147.27 on July 11.
The stunning collapse has sent pump prices tumbling. According to the daily survey by auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express, the overnight drop in gas prices left them nearly 10% lower from where they were only a week ago and almost 25% down from their all-time high of $4.114 set July 17.
In a separate survey released Tuesday, the Energy Department said the average retail price for gasoline fell 33.3 cents over the last week, the biggest price decline ever recorded by the government, the Energy Department said on Tuesday.
By region, average gasoline prices were less than $3 a gallon in the Midwest and the Gulf Coast. Pump costs could sink below $3 nationwide by the end of the month, said EIA senior oil analyst Joanne Shore.
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