Oil keeps plummeting

That means gas prices should follow suit over the next week or so. Oil finished today at $55.59 a barrel, its lowest close since June, 2005. Oil prices (really oil futures) have dropped nearly 30 percent since July 17, when they were at $78.40 a barrel. The explanation continues to be warm weather in the northeast, which has lowered demand for heating oil and boosted inventories. (By the way all you Al Gore fans, 2007 could be the warmest year on record - enough said.) All this is playing havoc on the stock prices of oil companies, including L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum, which lost another 2 percent today, to close at $45.76. Bloomberg