Crude prices mixed on Thursday

Crude oil prices were mixed on Thursday.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Petroleum Exchange was up 44 cents to $66.79 per barrel, while Brent crude for November delivery fell 9 cents to $63.84 per barrel.

Analysts at Barclays Capital said they expect crude oil production in the US to be down to its lowest level in sixty years in September, and that annual output for US oil will decline by 210,000 barrels per day this year.

The declines are a result of shutdowns caused by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita and will lead, said Barclays, to a much reduced non-OPEC supply of oil than was expected.

As of Thursday, all oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remained shut down in the wake of the storms.

Meanwhile, Nymex October unleaded gasoline futures dropped by 11.4 cents on the day to $2.2250 per gallon, while October heating oil futures on Nymex fell to $2.0725. Natural gas prices were up slightly, rising 10 cents to $14.20 per million British thermal units.