Oil Continues to Fall; DOE Approves Some SPR Releases

Oil prices continued to fall Tuesday, dropping below $92 a barrel in early trading, while Department of Energy approved oil releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help refineries left with supply shortages due to Hurricane Ike, Bloomberg reported.

Crude futures fell to $91.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a seven-month low, following Hurricane Ike’s landfall near Houston over the weekend, Bloomberg reported.

The $4 decline from Monday was due in part to the struggling U.S. economy and came even as refiners said it may take them weeks to restore output, Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, DOE approved release of 1 million barrels from the 700-million-plus-barrel SPR to ConocoPhillips, the second largest U.S. refiner, and received another request for 1 million barrels from Citgo Petroleum Co.

DOE also will deliver additional 109,000 barrels to Placid Oil’s Port Allen, La., refinery from the SPR to make up for shortfalls, the Associated Press reported.