crude price falls further as Syrian risk fades, relations with Iran thaw

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The price of oil closed at a six-week low as the catalysts that drove it above $110 earlier this month lost strength.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell $1.16, or 1.1 per cent, to close at US$103.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has dropped 6.3 per cent since closing at a two-year high of $110.53 on Sept. 6.

Analysts said the apparent progress being made in the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons, a seeming thaw in relations between Iran and western powers and the return to markets of crude from Libya and south Sudan were weighing on oil prices.

Brent crude, the benchmark for international crudes used by many U.S. refineries, dropped $1.06 to US$108.16 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex,wholesale gasoline fell six cents to US$2.62 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), heating oil retreated five cents to US$2.96 a gallon and natural gas lost nine cents to US$3.60 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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