Oil Prices Continue To Fall on Economic Weakness

Singapore, Aug. 1, 2008--Oil prices continued to fall this morning in Asia on expectations that slowing economic growth in developed countries will cut demand for crude products, such as gasoline and heating oil.

"The market is selling off because of the weak economic numbers out of the U.S.," said Tetsu Emori, commodity markets fund manager at ASTMAX Futures Co. in Tokyo.

"Growth and oil demand is slowing in the U.S., Europe and Japan, and it's too optimistic to think emerging market demand will compensate for that."

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 85 cents to $123.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract lost $2.69 overnight to settle at $124.08 a barrel.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday that country's gross domestic product rose just 1.9 percent in the second quarter despite government tax rebates aimed at boosting the economy. Economists had expected growth of 2.4 percent. The weak 1 percent GDP figure of the first three months of 2008 was also modified lower to 0.9 percent.