LONDON, Aug 20: World oil prices dropped on Monday as Hurricane Dean was on course to miss energy facilities in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of crude, analysts said.

The price of Brent North Sea crude for October delivery shed 65 cents to $69.79 per barrel.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, slid 93 cents to $71.05 per barrel.

“Oil prices are softening a little ... as concerns over the threat to US oil installations posed by Hurricane Dean ease,” Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.

“Although the threat to US Gulf oil facilities is now regarded as very minimal, Dean still poses a threat to Mexican oil facilities in the Bay of Campeche and Mexican oil company Pemex has evacuated more than 13,000 workers from its oil rigs in the region,” he added.

Dean’s trajectory is “becoming less of a worry for the oil market,” said Tobin Gorey, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank.

Oil traders are still trying to determine the fallout from the US subprime market crisis amid concerns that weaker economic growth will dampen energy demand.

“In view of the present financial turmoil, central bank action to trim inflation looks set to slow down the global economy and with it oil demand growth,” the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) noted on Monday.

Central banks around the globe have for the past couple of years moved to increase borrowing costs in a bid to tackle high inflation.—AFP