Crude oil prices drop amid falling U.S. energy demand

Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 15:07 IST
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New York: The prices of crude oil futures plunged Tuesday on account of the ongoing Middle East tension and falling energy demand in the U.S. U.S. retail gasoline demand for the week ending Dec 26 dropped 3.8 percent from the same week a year ago, according to a MasterCard Spending Pulse report. U.S. consumer confidence fell to a record low in December as the worst job market in 16 years hammered sentiment, the Conference Board, an economic research group, said. Light, sweet crude was down 99 cents to settle at $39.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while London Brent settled down 40 cents at $40.15.
Source: IANS