Oil Falls As Ernesto Heads Away From Gulf

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eports that Tropical Storm Ernesto will not strike the Gulf of Mexico sent crude oil prices down $1.27 to $71.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Crude oil futures closed at $72.51 a barrel on Friday, up 15 cents for the week on concerns that Ernesto might damage oil platforms and refineries in the Gulf.

The National Hurricane Center expects Ernesto to intensify to hurricane status before making landfall Wednesday in Florida, Bloomberg reported. The center then expects the storm to move northeast along the Atlantic coast.