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BREAKING 7-15-08 Crude Plummets $6.45 A Barrel Amidst Fears of Further Drop in U.S. Demand
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008 3:36pm

NEW YORK, NY From CNNMoney (By: Tom Pace, Talk of the Town) BREAKING: CRUDE OIL 5:45pm 7-15-08 Fueled by fears of a drop in consumer demand for gasoline, the cost of a barrel of light, sweet crude closed at $136.74 on the NY Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.

This is the second-largest drop on record for a barrel of oil, as investors feared a further decline in U.S. demand after hearing comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The drop in oil was the largest single-day slide in dollar terms since Jan. 17, 1991, when oil fell by $10.56. On that day, President George H.W. Bush withdrew oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ahead of the first Gulf War, according to CNNMoney.

But in 1991, oil was trading at just $32 a barrel, so the more than $10 slide in dollar terms represented a record 33% drop. Oil fell 4.4% Tuesday, which does not even crack the top 100 price declines in percentage terms.

On Tuesday morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that high energy prices have helped to limit the purchasing power of U.S. households. High energy costs will remain a drag on the U.S. economy for the rest of the year, Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee