Oil prices fell Tuesday, extending a decline that came after the shutdown of a huge oil processing unit...
Oil prices fell Tuesday, extending a decline that came after the shutdown of a huge oil processing unit at a U.S. refinery raised concern about lower demand for crude to refine.
Early forecasts indicating gasoline supplies rising the past week in the United States also exerted a downward push on prices.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 49 cents to US$71.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. The contract had fallen 62 cents to settle at US$72.19 a barrel Monday, after dipping as low as US$71.81 a barrel.
News that BP PLC was forced to shut down a huge oil processing unit for maintenance in Whiting, Indiana, had raised the worry of lower crude oil demand in the U.S. But it also renewed worries about low gasoline supplies in the middle of the U.S. summer driving season.
Vienna's PVM Oil Associates, however, cited "forecasts for this week (that) see product stocks rising and crude inventories falling, as refinery runs are expected to have increased for a third consecutive week." The weekly U.S. energy inventory snapshot from the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday.
