HOUSTON — Oil prices dipped below $66 a barrel Wednesday as investor sentiment once again seemed to shift to the growing global economic malaise and its potential impact on energy demand.
Gasoline prices continued to tumble.
A day after oil staged an Election Day rally, even indications that OPEC was acting on an earlier pledge to pull 1.5 million barrels of crude a day from the market failed to support prices.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $5.23 to settle at $65.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell despite a rally in Asian stock markets after the U.S. presidential election was settled.
Oil prices surged above $70 a barrel for the first time in nearly two weeks Tuesday, mirroring global stock markets that strengthened in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
“Oil goes up for a day or two, and the rug gets pulled out. It goes up for another day or so, and the rug gets pulled out,” said Peter Beutel, oil analyst at Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Conn. “The tide appears to be trying to change from an overwhelmingly lower trend to one that’s sideways to higher.”
Gasoline fell again, dipping a couple of cents to a national average of $2.365 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. The average price has fallen 33 percent in the past month and, according to AAA, could be headed to $2 a gallon nationally by year’s end.
In Denver, prices averaged $2.287 Wednesday, down from $2.32 Tuesday.
