Oil futures lose out as high prices cut supplies

IPE Brent crude oil September contracts on the International Petroleum Exchange lost $1.06 on Monday to trade at $56.55 per barrel during the day.

West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down in late morning trade by $1.09 to $57 per barrel.

The falling prices were due to the fact that a weakening Hurricane Emily had passed by some of the drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and even though disruptions to supplies were still possible in Mexico and Venezuela.

Also helping fuel the decline in prices was a report from the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries that estimated that the global demand for crude oil will fall next year by about 1.9 percent, around 1.5 million barrels per day.

The decline in demand was blamed on generally higher oil prices, which hit a high of $62.10 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on July 7.

Meanwhile in other commodities, copper prices were up by 1 percent to $1.578 per pound in late morning New York trading on the Comex.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained $22 to $3,387 per tonne, which translates to $1.5361 per pound. Gold was up 0.2 percent to $422.20 in late morning New York trade.

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