Oil prices fall over supply concerns

5 October 2007

Having risen slightly overnight, oil prices fell once more on Friday during trading in New York, Thomson Financial reports.

Light sweet crude for November delivery had fallen by 17 cents to $81.27 per barrel by 11:40am in New York, according to the news provider.

The price had briefly risen overnight in New York following speculation over potential economic growth in the US and heating oil supplies.

Victor Shum, an analyst with Purvin and Gertz, said that traders were beginning to "worry" about the supply of heating oil for the US market.

"In the summer, traders worried about the gasoline level. Now traders are starting to worry about the heating oil level," he said.

The Associated Press reports that the US energy department announced on Wednesday that crude oil inventories had increased by 1.2 million barrels last week.

Meanwhile, there was a decrease of 1.2 million barrels in the supply of distillates, including heating oil.