"U.S. Oil Prices Fall Below $80 a Barrel"

"HOUSTON — The benchmark American oil price fell below the symbolic $80-a-barrel threshold on Monday, swooning to two-year lows, after Saudi Arabia aimed to shore up its dwindling exports to the United States by cutting its selling price for the American market.

The Saudi move and the deepening fall in oil prices are both symptoms of the oil-drilling boom in the United States, which has lifted production by more than 70 percent over the last six years and reduced the nation’s imports from OPEC producers to roughly half of what they once were.

The lower oil prices are bringing relief to consumers at the pump in time for the holiday shopping season. The national average price for regular gasoline has fallen below $3 a gallon for the first time in four years, and experts say it could easily drop 25 cents more over the next month."

Clifford Krauss reports for the New York Times November 3, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"At Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Refining Businesses Support Earnings" (New York Times)

"Shell Earnings Buoyed by Strength in Liquefied Natural Gas" (New York Times)

"Falling Oil Prices Make Fracking Less Lucrative" (NPR)