OIL prices slumped yesterday after new signs of listless economic growth reinforced concerns about whether Americans would spend more on fuel anytime soon.

Benchmark oil for October delivery fell 99 cents to settle at US$74.43 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude prices have retreated about 7.6 percent in the past two weeks amid slowing economic growth. As Americans conserve their cash, supplies of oil and petroleum products have reached levels not seen in at least two decades.

"The underlyingfundamental factors in oil have become progressively more bearish almost on a weekly basis this summer," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates.

Economic reports released yesterday added to the worries that demand for oil and gas will stay weak in the months ahead.

The Labor Department said jobless benefit claims rose more than expected last week, while the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia said manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region dropped during August.

Fewer jobs mean fewer people filling their tanks to drive to work. Also, fewer vacationers will be on the road after Labor Day (Sept. 6), which should help push down pump prices. The average retail price of gasoline was US$2.73 a gallon on yesterday.

"Demand is certainly poor at this point. Consumers just aren't spending what you would expect them to be spending at this point," oil analyst and trader Stephen Schork said.

He expects oil to remain between US$70 a barrel and US$80 a barrel until there are solid signs of an economic recovery.

Stock prices took it on the chin yesterday, adding to the glum investoratmosphere. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off more than 130 points in late afternoon trading. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were lower as well.

In other energy trading, natural gas prices fell after the government said inventories held in undergroundstorage in the lower 48 states increased by 27 billion cubic feet to 3.012 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 13.

Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., expected natural gas reserves to increase between 28 billion cubic feet and 32 billion cubic feet.

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, natural gas for September delivery fell 6.8 cents to settle at US$4.171 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil lost 2.42 cents to settle at US$2.0007 a gallon and gasoline declined by 3.25 cents to settle at US$1.9287 a gallon.

In London, Brent crude fell US$1.17 to settle at US$75.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• anytime [´enitaim] ad.无论什么时候 (初中英语单词)
• barrel [´bærəl] n.(琵琶)桶；圆筒 (初中英语单词)
• conserve [kən´sə:v] vt.保存 n.密饯 (初中英语单词)
• fundamental [,fʌndə´mentl] a.基本的 n.原理 (初中英语单词)
• weekly [´wi:kli] a.&ad.每周一次(的) (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中英语单词)
• atmosphere [´ætməsfiə] n.大气；空气；气氛 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• gasoline [´gæsəli:n] n.汽油 (高中英语单词)
• gallon [´gælən] n.加伦 (高中英语单词)
• trader [´treidə] n.商人；商船 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• underground [,ʌndə´graund] ad.&a.地下(的) (高中英语单词)
• storage [´stɔ:ridʒ] n.贮存；存储器 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• petroleum [pi´trəuliəm] n.石油 (英语四级单词)
• retail [´ri:teil, ri´teil] n.&a.&v.零售(商品的) (英语四级单词)
• underlying [,ʌndə´laiiŋ] a.基础的；下层的 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• investor [in´vestə] n.投资者 (英语六级单词)