Brent crude drops below $100 per barrel

Crude oil prices were lower Tuesday as Hurricane Ike weakened and shifted course, making it less likely that it will hit key Gulf of Mexico oil and gas facilities even though forecasters warned that the storm could still regain strength and shift course.

October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down $3.19 to $103.15 per barrel at around the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude dropped $3.83 to $99.61 per barrel in late trade on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

In afternoon trade, Nymex October gasoline was down 10 cents to $2.66 per gallon while October heating oil had dropped 8 cents to $2.93 per gallon and October natural gas was holding steady at $7.53 per million British thermal units.

Investors were also waiting to see if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would cut production quotas in light of falling prices or leave quotas as they are for now.

Metals prices were also lower, primarily on worries about demand growth.

Copper fell 1 cent to $3.09 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $85 to $6,815 per tonne in London after going as low as $6,778 per tonne earlier in the session.

Aluminium was down $47 to $2,603 per tonne, zinc fell $52 to $1,718 per tonne, lead was $81 lower to $1,770 per tonne, nickel dropped $350 to $18,500 per tonne and tin plummeted $500 to $18,600 per tonne even though exports from Indonesia were down in August.

Precious metals prices were also down, with December gold falling $9.80 to $792.70 per tonne in New York while December silver dropped 35 cents to $11.72 and October platinum fell $90.80 to $1,262.10 per troy ounce.

Grains prices were mixed, with wheat dropping on the Chicago Board of Trade on the possibility that the stronger dollar and record crops around the world could cut demand for US crops.

CBOT December wheat fell 13 cents to $7.30 per bushel and December corn dropped 4 cents to $5.44 per bushel while November soybeans added 9 cents to $12.01 per bushel.

Story link: Brent crude drops below $100 per barrel