Crude Prices Still Falling; Refineries Recovering Slowly

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rude oil prices continued their downward trend Tuesday, falling 23 cents to $63.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, more than $7 below the record $70.85 reached Aug. 30, the day after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Bloomberg reported.

Four refineries that account for about 5% of U.S. oil-refining capacity remain shut down because of damage from the storm, Bloomberg reported.

The four refineries, three in Louisiana and one in Mississippi, have a combined processing capacity of about 887,000 barrels of oil a day, Bloomberg said.

The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service said Tuesday that oil output stood at 44% of pre-Katrina levels. Katrina has halted a total of 19.7 million barrels of oil output since Aug. 26.