WTI drops below $78 per barrel

Crude oil prices fell sharply again Friday on fears that the global economy will fall into a recession, sending demand for oil and oil products down further.

In addition, the International Energy Agency again cut its demand forecast for oil globally for this year for 2009.

The decline in demand was illustrated by the overnight drop in at-the-pump prices for regular unleaded gasoline in the United States, which fell 5.3 cents to $3.35 per gallon on average nationally, with average prices dropping below $3 in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was down $8.83 to $77.56 per barrel at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude for November delivery dropped $8.76 to $73.90 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex November gasoline futures were down 22 cents to $1.81 per gallon while November heating oil dropped 20 cents to $2.21 per gallon and November natural gas fell 26 cents to $6.57 per million British thermal units.