Crude oil prices tumble

Markets turned Friday on news that Dubai World, a government-owned investment company, had asked for a six-month delay on repayments for $59 billion in debts.
Markets lost ground in Asia Friday with the Shanghai Composite index down 2.36 percent, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan off 3.22 percent and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 4.84 percent.

The price of light, sweet crude in New York lost $3.66 to $74.30 per barrel. Heating oil prices dropped 0.066 cents to $1.9241 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices lost 0.078 cents to $1.9196 per gallon. Natural gas prices lost 0.01 cents to $5.153 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.632 per gallon Friday, down slightly from Thursday's $2.633, AAA said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.