Oil falls amid hopes for output boost

New York -- Oil fell nearly $1 a barrel to its lowest price in more than five weeks Monday on speculation OPEC might boost output when oil ministers meet.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was down 95 cents, or 1.07 percent, to $87.76 a barrel, its lowest New York Mercantile Exchange price since Oct. 25.

Despite speculation, Qatar Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was unlikely to change crude oil output when ministers meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper reported.

Attiyah "had consultations with ministers from OPEC in Doha (Qatar's capital) and they shared the view that oil supplies were sufficient," the newspaper said.

The International Energy Agency has urged OPEC to increase output to meet Northern Hemisphere winter demand.

Natural gas lost 24 cents, or 3.25 percent, to $7.06 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Heating oil shed 2.15 cents, or 0.85 percent, to $2.4935 a gallon.
Reformulated-gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending fell 1.71 cents, or 0.77 percent, to $2.2135 a gallon.

AAA said the average U.S. retail regular unleaded gasoline price was $3.061 a gallon, down 1.6 cents from Sunday's $3.077 a gallon.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.