Money world

Oil was around $109 a barrel on Tuesday after sliding to five-months lows when initial reports showed Hurricane Gustav had spared major U.S. Gulf oil facilities.

U.S. crude was $109.53 a barrel by 10:44 a.m. EDT, down $5.93 from Friday’s close. It touched a session low of $105.46, its lowest since April 2.

A U.S. public holiday on Monday meant the New York Mercantile Exchange did not issue an official settlement price for U.S. crude on Monday.

London Brent crude was down 92 cents at $108.49.

As the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm, the market refocused on bearish factors including a softer global economy, weaker demand for oil and a stronger U.S free credit report .com. dollar.

These had already begun to drive down prices, which have dropped about $40 from a peak of $147.27 a barrel on July 11.

Hurricane Gustav, combined with Russia’s conflict with Georgia, which disrupted flows of oil and gas, had halted the slide.

“If it were not for these threats, we would have been testing $100 already,” said Mike Wittner of Societe Generale. 

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