world oil prices at 126 dollars

LONDON  - Oil prices fell further on Wednesday as Hurricane Dolly looked set to miss US energy installations in the Gulf of Mexico, analysts said.
The market was also awaiting the latest weekly update on the health of crude stockpiles in the United States, which is the world’s biggest consumer of energy.
Last week’s US report revealed a surprise gain in the reserves which pushed prices down five dollars so any fall in levels later Wednesday would likely support the market, traders said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, dropped 2.39 dollars to 126.03 dollars a barrel.
The August contract expired on Tuesday at 127.95 dollars, a long way off the historic high of 147.50 dollars set on July 11.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for September delivery shed 2.26 dollars to 127.29 dollars on Wednesday.
“The market was driven lower by reduced risk from hurricane Dolly as it moves through a relatively clear part of the Gulf of Mexico, shutting in 60,000 barrels a day of Mexican production but leaving US production unaffected,” said analysts at John Hall Associates in a research note to clients.
Hurricane Dolly gained force in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday as it headed for the US-Mexican border, forcing thousands to flee their homes as US oil rigs put staff ashore.
Packing sustained winds of 140 kilometres (85 miles) per hour, the first hurricane of the season in the gulf was about 105 kilometres southeast of the Texas border town of Brownsville, the US National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was moving northwest at 13 kilometres an hour (eight mph), the centre said at 0900 GMT.