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Oil Prices Continue to Fall

On Friday oil futures dropped below $40 per barrel a six-year low on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing at $40.45, down 2%. The current decline in oil prices, which began in January, is the longest slide since 1986.
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On Friday oil futures dropped below $40 per barrel a six-year low on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing at $40.45, down 2%.

The current decline in oil prices, which began in January, is the longest slide since 1986. Some analysts predict petroleum futures will tumble to $32 this autumn as production continues to outstrip demand. One reason: Major producers such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are pumping more crude to defend their market shares, even as slow economic growth reduces demand.

U.S. output of crude surged 9% in July to 9.5 million barrels per day, its biggest volume in at least 95 years, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Bloomberg News says the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries appears poised to increase its output, which has exceeded the cartel's self-imposed cap of 30 million barrels per day for more than a year.

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