Oil prices fall $2.46 per barrel Friday

New York -- Crude oil prices fell Friday as confidence in demand is skidding on weaker economies in Europe, Asia and the United States.

"Worries about an economic slowdown in the United States and Europe, and even Japan, are weighing on the oil market," Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore told The Wall Street Journal.

Oil prices dropped $2.46 Friday to $112.55 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose 0.0404 cents to $3.125 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices fell 0.052 cents to $2.86 per gallon. Natural gas prices fell 0.027 cents to $8.109 per million British thermal units.

The national average retail price of unleaded regular gasoline fell 0.007 cents to $3.771 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.