Oil prices fell Thursday after an economic report suggesting that hiring in the US remains weak. Benchmark crude for September delivery fell 46 cents to settle at $82.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has traded in the $70s for most of this year on concerns about the global economic recovery. In London, Brent crude fell 59 cents to $81.61 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. In other Nymex trading, natural gas for September delivery fell 13.9 cents to settle at $4.598 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil lost 1.54 cents to settle at $2.1868 a gallon and gasoline retreated 1.06 cents to $2.1644 a gallon. Analysts believe traders are looking beyond ample supplies and anemic demand this week to capitalize on a weaker dollar and low US interest rates. Since commodities such as oil are priced in dollars, a weaker dollar makes them more attractive for foreign buyers. Signs of improving US oil demand helped support crude prices recently. In its weekly report Wednesday, the Energy Department said commercial oil inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels last week, a bigger drop than analysts expected.
