Crude oil falls as worries over effect of Iraqi insurgency on supplies eases

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

A worker hangs from an oil derrick outside of Willisburg, N.D. on July 26, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Gregory Bull

The price of oil fell Thursday as fears diminished somewhat over supply disruptions from Iraq.

Benchmark West Texas Intermedate crude for August delivery slipped 66 cents to US$105.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, eased 79 cents to US$113.21 a barrel in London.

While concerns linger about violence in Iraq affecting global crude supplies, oil production and exports from the giant fields clustered in the country's south remain unaffected. July exports are expected to average about 2.57 million barrels per day, according to analyst forecasts.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex: wholesale gasoline fell one cent to US$3.09 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), heating oil fell two cents to US$3.01 a gallon and natural gas fell 15 cents to US$4.40 per 1,000 cubic feet.

(TSX:ECA), (TSX:IMO), (TSX:SU), (TSX:HSE), (NYSE:BP), (NYSE:COP), (NYSE:XOM), (NYSE:CVX), (TSX:CNQ), (TSX:TLM), (TSX:COS), (TSX:CVE)