Oil prices take a drop as Rita weakens

[sarettah]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050923/oil_prices.html?.v=16

Oil Prices Sink As Hurricane Rita Weakens
Friday September 23, 5:17 pm ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude oil prices dropped sharply Friday, the second straight day of declines, as traders welcomed news that Hurricane Rita had weakened, suggesting that damage to refinery capacity in the Gulf could be less severe than originally feared.

Refineries in the projected path of the hurricane were shuttered by Friday, including facilities operated by BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. Nineteen of Texas' 26 refineries, with a combined daily capacity of nearly 5 million barrels, have been shut, according to the Energy Information Agency.

However, unlike refining facilities shut down by Hurricane Katrina -- four of which were still out of service Friday -- traders expected less damage from Rita because the Texas refineries were on higher ground than those in Louisiana.

Light sweet crude for November delivery fell $2.31 to settle at $64.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil dropped nearly 10 cents to $1.95 a gallon, while gasoline fell more than 5 cents to $2.09 a gallon.

Brent crude oil futures for November lost $2.59 to $62.44 a barrel on London's International Petroleum Exchange, which was to remain open through Friday evening in anticipation of hectic hurricane-related trading.

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