Worse-than-expected US employment news and an increase in crude inventories conspired to push oil prices lower in European trading. By early afternoon in London, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 55 cents to $74.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had lost 26 cents to settle at $74.71 on Wednesday.
“Gasoline demand especially remains a concern for the market, as it is only slightly up on last year’s low level, at 8.8 million barrels a day,” said a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “The slower pace of the U.S. economy in the second half of the year makes a marked recovery of (gasoline demand), by far most important demand component in the U.S., less likely.”
Source: Associated Press
