By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Sept. 24 -- International energy futures prices continued their downward spiral Friday with traders still focused on forecasts of a major worldwide recession in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
Meanwhile, suspects were being arrested in police sweeps across the US and the UK. Military and police forces are on full alert in many areas. And markets remain anxious in anticipation of US military action against the terrorists and possible repercussions.
In such an environment of uncertainty, some analysts are now predicting that oil prices are unlikely to fall much further.
The November contract for benchmark US light, sweet crude dropped 76¢ to $25.97/bbl Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the December contract lost 87¢ to $26.10/bbl.
Unleaded gasoline for November delivery fell 2.11¢ to 72.15¢/gal. Home heating oil for the same month was 1.27¢ to 70.87¢/gal. The December natural gas contract dipped 3.4¢ to $2.10/Mcf on the NYMEX.
In London, the November contract for North Sea Brent crude declined 48¢ to $25.44/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. But the October natural gas contract inched up 2.5¢ to the equivalent of $3.12/Mcf on the IPE.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven crudes dropped 53¢ to $23.98/bbl Friday.
For the full week, however, OPEC's basket price averaged $25.72/bbl, down 23¢ from the previous week. So far this year, OPEC has averaged $24.81/bbl for its crude, down from $27.60/bbl during all of 2000.
