WTI falls below $75 per barrel

Crude oil prices followed equities markets lower Wednesday, with declines coming even though Hurricane Omar briefly closed refineries in Venezuela and the US Virgin Islands.

Also tending to push prices lower was an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut in its demand forecast for 2009, down to 87.21 million barrels per day, a decline of 450,000 bpd.

The OPEC alteration to its demand forecast comes on the heels of a similar cut in demand projections from the International Energy Agency last week, which also cut its prediction for next year’s demand to 87.2 million barrels per day.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $4.13 to $74.50 per barrel at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange while November contracts for Brent crude dropped $3.66 to $70.87 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

In afternoon trade, Nymex November gasoline futures were down 8 cents to $1.80 per gallon and December heating oil fell 5 cents to $2.24 per gallon while January natural gas dropped 18 cents to $7.14 per million British thermal units.