Oil Prices Continue Downward Trend

Washington, DC, June 22, 2012 -- Oil prices hovered near $78 a barrel Friday as markets remain jittery about economic conditions.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for August delivery was up 33 cents at $78.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $3.25 to settle at $78.20, the lowest since October, in New York on Thursday.

Crude fell from $84 earlier this week and has plummeted 26 percent in less than two months as signs mount of a slowdown in the global economy, led by Europe, that would reduce demand for crude.