Oil prices fall as Hurricane Dean moves away from US oil facilities

NEW YORK (AFP) - World oil prices declined yesterday as critical US energy production facilities in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico looked set to dodge any potential danger from Hurricane Dean, traders said.

Dean was swirling across the Caribbean Sea toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Although US producers heaved a sigh of relief, Mexico's offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico is on high alert and companies have shut down offshore facilities fearing they are in Dean's projected path.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, closed down 86 cents at 71.12 dollars per barrel.

The price of Brent North Sea crude for October delivery settled down 59 cents at 69.85 dollars per barrel.

"Oil prices are softening a little ... as concerns over the threat to US oil installations posed by Hurricane Dean ease," Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.

"Although the threat to US Gulf oil facilities is now regarded as very minimal, Dean still poses a threat to Mexican oil facilities in the Bay of Campeche and Mexican oil company Pemex has evacuated more than 13,000 workers from its oil rigs in the region," he added.

Hurricane Dean headed for Mexico, after battering Jamaica into a state of emergency by downing power lines, ripping off roofs and blocking roads with felled trees.

"The actual track of the storm over the weekend made it clear that most US oil infrastructure will escape unscathed," said Mike Fitzpatrick, a market analyst at MF Global.

Dean's trajectory is "becoming less of a worry for the oil market," said Tobin Gorey, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank.

Oil traders are still trying to determine the fallout from the US subprime mortgage market crisis amid concerns that weaker economic growth will dampen energy demand, especially in the world's biggest oil-consuming nation.

"In view of the present financial turmoil, central bank action to trim inflation looks set to slow down the global economy and with it oil demand growth," the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) said.

Central banks around the globe have for the past couple of years moved to increase borrowing costs in a bid to tackle high inflation.

CGES meanwhile criticized OPEC for not increasing output at a time of rising demand, saying the cartel's main aim was to cash in on high prices.