Oil futures fell below $56 a barrel Friday on reassuring news about inventories of natural gas, easing worries about fuel supplies to heat homes this winter.
Light sweet crude for December delivery dropped 35 cents to $55.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. In London, January Brent crude was up 11 cents to $54.96 on the ICE Futures Exchange.