Oil and gasoline futures fell Wednesday after U.S. government data showed growing evidence of falling demand and traders shrugged off a decline in supplies, according to AP. Light sweet crude for November delivery fell $1.30 to $62.60 per barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where futures fell $1.57 on Tuesday. Unleaded gasoline futures fell more than 10 cents to $1.915 per gallon, putting them 18 percent below the Sept. 28 peak of $2.34 a gallon. Gasoline demand over the past month was 2.6 percent below year ago levels, according to the Energy Department, which released its weekly petroleum supply report on Wednesday. Demand for jet fuel and distillates, such as diesel, were also lower over the same period. Natural gas futures closed at a record high of $14.224 per 1,000 cubic feet on Tuesday; they fell 4.4 cents on Wednesday to $14.18, but that is still roughly double year ago prices. The Interior Department said Tuesday that heavy damage by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would mean a slow recovery for offshore natural gas production. The Gulf Coast produces about one-fifth of the natural gas used by U.S. industry and to heat homes. The loss of natural gas output is particularly troublesome, analysts say, because there is no emergency stockpile.
