Oil Down By $70 A Barrel, OPEC May Lower Supply To Boost Prices

October 18, 2008 1:27 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - Crude oil was down $70 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange giving rise to speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might cut production quotas next week to boost oil prices as demand falls.

Oil prices were 0.38 cents lower Friday at $71.86 per barrel. Heating oil fell 0.0077 cents to $2.135 per gallon. Reformulated gas was down 0.012 cents to $1.67 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.013 cents to $6.833 per million British thermal units.

At U.S. pumps, a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $3.04 Friday, behind Thursday's $3.084 a gallon.

Oil prices reached record highs at $147 a barrel this year, and reached below $70 on Thursday for the first time in over a year.

Oil was down due to low demand brought about by the global economic slowdown and volatile financial markets.