Crude oil prices fall as demand slips

NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices fell Wednesday on news that U.S. demand for gasoline and oil both fell in September.

The Energy Information Administration said domestic oil consumption had declined 7.1 percent in September, compared with 2007. Gasoline consumption also declined, down 4.5 percent, EIA said.

"Demand is just terrible," Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Derivatives told The Wall Street Journal. "That's what's been behind the sell off," he said.

Crude oil prices fell $3.33 to $98.59 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil prices fell 0.0091 cents to $2.8534 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices slipped 0.1086 to $2.366 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.302 cents to $7.79 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, U.S. motorists were paying $3.619 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline, down from Tuesday's price of $3.633, AAA said.