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Oil prices fall on fresh worries about economy

Dunya News

Oil prices fell after disappointing US corporate earnings and worries about global economy.

The price of oil fell 2.2 percent Friday after disappointing US corporate earnings and a drop in existing home sales sparked worries again about the global economy.Benchmark oil fell $2.05 to finish at $90.05 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, dropped $2.28, or 2 percent, to end at $110.14 per barrel in London.Several companies delivered weaker-than-expected third-quarter results, including Microsoft and McDonalds. In addition, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously occupied homes fell 1.7 percent in September from August in part because of fewer houses on the market.Oil traders also worry about Europes efforts to resolve its debt crisis and Chinas slower growth.It doesnt look as if theres a clear-cut signal whether we are going to have a significant downturn in the global economic activity which is going to translate into lower demands for energy, Tradition Energy oil analyst Gene McGillian said.Meanwhile, TransCanada said it will restart a pipeline this weekend that carries crude from Canada to the Midwest. The 2,100-mile (3,380-kilometer) Keystone pipeline was shut down Wednesday after tests showed possible safety issues.Oil traders largely consider the temporary closure to be a non-issue because U.S. crude supplies are plentiful. Analysts dont expect any impact on national retail gasoline prices.