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Price of oil falls to lowest point of yearWASHINGTON — The price of a barrel of oil continued to fall Oct. 12 amid speculation that OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world's crude, would struggle to reduce supplies to prop up prices, and as analysts expected U.S. inventories to gain.
Bloomberg News reported that voluntary cuts by OPEC members may not cause a price rebound and that U.S. stockpiles are above seasonal averages.
Crude inventories probably rose 1.5 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 6, from 328.1 million the prior week, according to the median of forecasts by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Crude oil for November delivery fell as much as 35 cents to $57.24 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest price since Dec. 19, 2005. The contract traded at $57.38 at 11:37 a.m. in London. Brent crude declined 30 cents to $58.35 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Oil has dropped about $21 a barrel from a record high on July 14. The plunge prompted the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to consider reducing production. Several OPEC members have announced voluntary cuts, but conflicting statements have caused skepticism over whether the reductions will take hold.
— The Trucker News Services
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