Oil prices ease as Fay to avoid facilities

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

NEW YORK (AFP) — Crude oil prices fell Monday as Tropical Storm Fay looked set to spare energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline appeared ready to reopen soon.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, dropped 90 cents to close at 112.87 dollars a barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for October lost 61 cents to settle at 111.94 dollars a barrel.

"It's been going up and down the whole day," said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.

Oil prices earlier had climbed as investors worried that Tropical Storm Fay would strike the Gulf of Mexico, where nearly a quarter of US oil installations are located.

The New York futures contract had bounced above 115 dollars before losing steam...