Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil futures fell more than $4 a barrel in New York after a surprise increase in U.S. inventories and as a slowing U.S. economy sapped demand for energy.
Supplies rose 2.95 million barrels to 296.9 million barrels last week, an Energy Department report showed. Stockpiles were forecast to drop 2.2 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey. Fuel demand averaged 20.3 million barrels a day in the past four weeks, down 2 percent from 2007, the department said.
``The inventory numbers are starting to reflect the bad macro-economic news,'' said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. ``Not only did we get a surprise build in crude-oil stocks, the products were also up nicely.''
Crude oil for August delivery fell $4.14, or 3 percent, to settle at $134.60 a barrel at 3 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dropped 7.3 percent since July 14, the biggest two-day decline since January 2007. Futures are up 81 percent from a year ago.
Oil today fell as low as $132 a barrel, more than 10 percent below the record of $147.27 reached on July 11. A drop of that magnitude is commonly referred to as a correction.
I believe
right now is the time for Congress to lift the ban on offshore drilling. I think it would send oil prices plummetting.