! @! X0 ^- l9 N5 S; `Crude oil prices fell to nearly $50 a barrel Wednesday, their lowest levels since May 2005. : \6 Z3 {5 s& f; L' |. g3 L9 @( x6 {4 A S( F) \0 R1 ^# o7 n; u+ {
Light, sweet crude for February delivery was down 62 cents to $50.59 a barrel in mid-morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. 3 ]* _" M l+ Z0 ` : \7 j5 n7 T- eFebruary natural gas fell 7.3 cents to $6.565 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York. February heating oil was down 1.24 cents at $1.4679 a gallon. February reFORMulated gasoline futures fell 2.13 cents at $1.3480 a gallon.* Z5 D2 S& F5 r, v
) r% @! B4 g P V* k% E7 uAAA said Wednesday the average U.S. retail regular-unleaded gasoline price was $2.217 a gallon, down 0.012 cents from Tuesday.( A# L$ h1 a7 [5 d, B7 U# f
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