Crude oil prices fall to six-month low

16 September 2008

Crude oil in London was trading at around $90.70 (£50.55) this morning, which is likely to result in lower home heating oil prices in the coming months.

The drop comes after the impact of Hurricane Ike on US oil refineries was less pronounced than expected.

Ike destroyed at least ten oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as shutting several US refineries.

These production centres are expected to reopen by the end of the week.

However, the low price of crude oil is not expected to last, with oil cartel Opec announcing last week that it plans to cut back on excess production in a bid to raise prices.

Crude oil prices have dropped from a July high of $147 (£81.93) per barrel, but are still up on last year.

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