Crude oil falls on demand forecast

The price of crude oil was lower Thursday on continuing worries about demand after a private consultancy said it thinks fuel demand will weaken as more energy-efficient cars are manufactured and more emphasis is put on the use of alternative fuels.

December contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was down 84 cents to $79.56 per barrel near the close on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report December Brent crude was also 84 cents lower, to $78.05 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex December natural gas added 2 cents to $4.75 per million British thermal units even though US stockpiles were reported to have grown by 20 billion cubic feet last week to a new record high, while December gasoline futures were down 2 cents to $1.99 per gallon and December heating oil dropped 3 cents to $2.07 per gallon.

Copper prices fell in New York and London Thursday as inventories in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange were up again, leading to continued worries that demand will not revive as hoped.

December copper was 4 cents lower to $2.96 per pound in New York, while three-month contracts on the London Metal Exchange dropped $40 to $6,530 per tonne on the session as LME inventories added another 5,775 tonnes during the session.

Aluminium stockpiles, on the other hand, were down by 2,300 tonnes in LME warehouses, sending that metals prices $4 higher to $1,925 per tonne, but zinc and lead prices each dropped by $10, to $2,219 per tonne and $2,350 per tonne respectively, while nickel added $140 to $17,760 per tonne in London.

Among precious metals, December gold added $2 to $1,089.30 per troy ounce and December silver was up a cent to $17.41 per troy ounce, but January platinum dropped $6.40 to $1,362.90 per troy ounce.

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