The price of oil fell by almost $2 a barrel Wednesday after OPEC warned of weakening energy demand and the U.S. government confirmed what most traders had already assumed: domestic supplies of oil and gasoline are rising.
Light sweet crude for March delivery declined by $1.92 to $57.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest settlement price for the front-month futures contract since Dec. 19, when oil closed at $57.34, but crude futures are still more than 20 percent higher than a year ago.
