Oil closes below $100 for first time in 6 months
Oil prices closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six
months Monday, tumbling in another dramatic sell-off as the demise of
Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch deepened worries about
the U.S. economy.
Crude prices shed more than $5 a barrel and
have now given up virtually all their gains for the year, extending a
steep, two-month slide from record levels above $147 a barrel.
Oil's
pullback also came as early signs suggested that Hurricane Ike
delivered less damage than feared to the Gulf Coast energy oil and gas
infrastructure. But pump prices jumped above $4 a gallon in parts of
the country as a precautionary shutdown of Gulf refineries caused
gasoline shortages.