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Friday, November 14, 2008

Crude Falls Below $57 a Barrel

By Kathryn Glass

FOXBusiness

Crude oil traded below $58 a barrel on Friday morning, following the broader market as it moved to the downside.

The price of crude rose on Thursday to close at $58.24, or $2.08 a barrel higher, a gain of 3.7%. Thursday’s gains were quickly erased, however, as crude prices fell as low as $56.62 per barrel on Friday.

On Friday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries confirmed it will hold a special one-day meeting on Nov. 29 in Cairo, where they are likely to discuss further reductions in supply as global demand continues to wane.

On October 24, members of the cartel agreed to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels in the month of November, in an attempt to prop up plummeting prices, but the move has done little to prevent further declines.

Following crude’s lead, RBOB gasoline prices increased 5.43 cents per gallon on Thursday, a gain of 4.25%. Gasoline for December delivery settled at $1.3024 on Thursday, yet it was also moving downward on Friday after the open. Heating oil prices also increased on Thursday and had settled 2.16% higher, to $1.8750.

Bucking the larger trend, natural gas prices fell on Thursday by 1.36% and settled at $6.318. Natural gas prices have fallen 12.83% in the past three days, and the commodity continued its slide on Friday morning, where it fell another two cents.

Gold was up $40 to $745 on Friday morning. Silver prices fell 7.17% to settle at $8.80, but the metal was trading 69 cents higher on Friday. Copper hit its lowest settle in more than three years on Thursday, ending the day down 2.09% to $1.615 per pound, but was up more than seven cents on Friday.

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