COLUMBUS, Ohio — Crude, gasoline and other fuel prices tumbled Tuesday after the government again lowered its forecast for global energy demand and said average oil prices for this year will likely be below current levels.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell $1.36 to settle at $45.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after closing at a two-month high Monday.
In London, Brent prices fell 17 cents to settle at $43.96 on the ICE Futures exchange.
In early trading, oil looked like it would continue its winning streak that had boosted prices to nearly $50 from $33 earlier this year on comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
He told the Council on Foreign Relations that the U.S. recession could end this year if the government bailout succeeds and markets return to a more normal state.
The recession, now in its second year and already the longest in a quarter-century, has turned out to be more severe than the Fed had anticipated, he acknowledged in fielding questions after his speech.
Trading on the Nymex market went negative almost immediately after the Energy Information Administration cut its forecast for global oil demand in 2009 by 200,000 barrels a day from its forecast last month. Its projection for global oil consumption this year is now 3 million barrels a day below its forecast from September.
“If economic growth in the United States and overseas rebounds sooner than expected, oil demand could experience stronger-than-expected growth and outpace production increases, leading to rising prices,” the report said.
The American Petroleum Institute was to release its U.S crude-inventory expectations later Tuesday, and today, the Paris-based International Energy Agency will release its forecast for global demand. Also today, the U.S. government will release crude-inventory levels.
Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy-information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., expect the government to report that inventories of crude and gasoline declined last week.
“Assuming crude imports steadied out at about 9 million barrels per day with no change in refinery inputs, there will likely be another drop in commercial crude stocks,” said Linda Rafield, Platts oil analyst.
