Oil Slides Below $103 a Barrel as Hurricane Ike Moves Into Gulf

Crude oil prices continued to slide early Wednesday, even as Hurricane Ike intensified as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico and a top OPEC official said the cartel would trim an oversupplied market, Bloomberg reported.

Oil fell to $102.70 in early trading, down from Tuesday’s closing price of $103.26 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said.

Crude futures have fallen $12 this month and is down more than $40 from the record Nymex closing price of $145.29 set in July 3.

Hurricane Ike moved into the Gulf of Mexico overnight after running through Cuba and was expected to strengthen from a Category 1 to a Category 3 storm as it moved west toward the U.S. Gulf Coast in Texas, most likely making landfall Saturday, weather forecasters said.

As the storm intensified over open water, oil companies shut down rigs and platforms closed last week from Hurricane Gustav, Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said the cartel would adhere to production quotas, effectively cutting output by about half a million barrels a day, Bloomberg reported.