NYMEX November crude futures settled 66 cents lower at $79.85/barrel -- the first time the front-month contract closed below the $80/b level in more than a month -- capping a week of sharp losses marked by growing concerns about the global economy.
Since late last week, the front-month contract has lost more than $8/b.
October heating oil settled 5.27 cents lower at $2.7958/gal and October RBOB settled 53 points lower at $2.5547/gal.
ICE November Brent futures settled $1.52 lower at $103.97/b and ICE October gasoil settled down $4.75 at $899/mt.
Although the complex did not duplicate the sharp losses seen a day earlier, its continued weakness "suggests an extremely weak undertone that will likely be followed by further downside to around the $76-area per [barrel of] nearby WTI during the first half of next week," said independent analyst Jim Ritterbusch in a note.
Oil futures did find underlying support from firmness in equities and a weak US dollar that pushed NYMEX November crude off a six-week low of $77.55/b reached in overnight trade, a move that came after investor optimism rose as the Group of 20 major economies held an emergency meeting overnight and vowed to help the global economy grow.
Analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman said the markets will also look for guidance from policy makers to support the global economy and restore financial health to Europe's ailing banking system as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank host an annual meeting this weekend in Washington.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was subdued throughout the session following Thursday's sharp 500-point swing, but broke lower by the NYMEX settle and was down more than 16 points at 10,717.4. The S&P 500 Index was near flat at 1,123.9.
One feature of the session, Ritterbusch noted, was an independent show of strength in RBOB futures throughout the day, which spiked on several power-related refinery outages in the US Gulf Coast region.
A fire and the subsequent shutdown of a power substation belonging to Texas-New Mexico Power Company Thursday evening resulted in flaring at refineries in Texas City, Texas, owned by BP, Marathon and Valero, according to The Daily News in Galveston County (see story, 1550 GMT).
Valero said some units at the refinery were affected but were returning to normal operations. The power disruption led to flaring of hydrocarbons at the Marathon refinery and the affected units were brought back online.
According to sources the BP refinery was not affected by the power outage.
Nonetheless, RBOB futures pared those gains and settled lower.
"We still view the gasoline market as weak component within the complex as we still anticipate a decline in Oct RBOB to the $2.45 August lows prior to expiry a week from today," said Ritterbusch.
