Global oil prices fall

The price of oil has been in a slide all summer and hit a downward milestone Tuesday when the international benchmark closed below $100 a barrel.  Driving the momentum is cooling global demand, combined with continuing growth in US production that partly offsets worries about supply disruptions amid turmoil surrounding the Middle East and Russia. On the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, global benchmark Brent crude ended Tuesday trading down $1.04 at $99.16 a barrel, its first close below $100 since April 2013. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, rose 9 cents to $92.75 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up slightly from Monday's closing price – its lowest since mid-January. The price of crude oil serves as a barometer for everything from how much consumers pay at the pump to the profits oil executives will report in their upcoming quarterly earnings releases. Gasoline prices have fallen from a national average of $3.47 per gallon to $3.44 over the last month and are expected to fall further as the year winds down, said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, which monitors fuel prices, according to houstonchronicle.com