"Oil Breaks $60 Threshold for First Time in 5 Years"

"HOUSTON — The American benchmark price for crude oil broke the symbolically important $60 a barrel mark on Thursday for the first time in over five years, underscoring a remarkable drop of over 40 percent since early June.

It was accompanied by another steep decline in gasoline prices, with the AAA motor club reporting that the national average for a gallon of regular gas on Thursday fell to $2.62, nearly two cents below the day before. After dropping nearly a penny a day over the last month, the average price for a gallon of regular is about 64 cents lower than a year ago.

The immediate cause for the continuing collapse in oil prices was a comment by the Saudi oil minister, Ali Al-Naimi, in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday that suggested that the OPEC cartel was not likely to change anytime soon its decision last month to leave production quotas unchanged."

Clifford Krauss reports for the New York Times December 11, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Oil Prices Continue Slide, Fueling Calls For US Crude Exports" (Christian Science Monitor)

"Slow Demand, Rising Supply Put Further Pressure on Oil Price: IEA" (Reuters)

"Oil Prices Fall on Surprise Increase in Inventories" (Nasdaq)

"OPEC Report, High US Crude Inventories Sends Oil Prices To New 5-Year Lows" (AP)