Oil prices fall past $126 a barrel

Oil prices extended their slide today after the government reported gasoline stocks rose more and crude supplies fell less than expected last week.Light, sweet crude for September delivery slipped $1.77 at $126.65 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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September Brent crude fell $2.06 to $127.49 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that crude supplies fell by 1.6 million barrels inthe week ending July 18, slightly less than analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts predicted.
Gasoline stockpiles jumped by 2.9 million barrels. Analysts had expected an increase of half a million. Neither figure would appear to give traders who have been largely selling off oil in recent days reason to change theirbehavior. Oil prices came under further pressure as the dollar strengthened against the euro. The dollar's decline has been a major factor in oil's rapid ascent over the past year, as investors bought dollar-denominated crude contracts as a hedge against inflation and a weakening US currency. But when the dollarstrengthens, that currency-related buying can unwind. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures lost 7.82 cents to trade at $3.60 a gallon, while gasoline futures shedover 8 cents to $3.0641 a gallon. Natural gas prices fell more than 11 cents to $10.183 per 1,000 cubic feet.