Crude slips below $64 a barrel as relief effort picks up

Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Crude-oil prices slipped below $64 a barrel today as traders gauged news from the U.S. Gulf states, where Hurricane Katrina relief efforts gained momentum but some damaged oil refineries will remain shut for months.

"News coming in over the weekend that some production facilities might take longer to recover than originally expected is lending a slight bullish tone to the market, but this may disappear during the day," said Frederic Lasserre, an energy analyst with SG Securities in Paris.

Lasserre also said this week's inventory report from the United States is expected to contain "very, very bullish" numbers since it will be the first snapshot to reflect the full impact of Hurricane Katrina.

"Crude stocks, however, could prove less tragic than initially thought," he said.

Light sweet crude for October delivery fell 50 cents to $63.58 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline tumbled two-and-a-half cents to $1.9340 a gallon, while heating oil was trading down half a cent at $1.8915 a gallon.

Brent crude for October delivery fell 58 cents to $62.26 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.