Another Slide for Oil

However, he does see a light at the end of the tunnel. "It seems unlikely we'd enter the driving season without [crude] prices going up," he says.

In the meantime, says Schenker, the falling oil prices are helping improve the profitability of the distillate products.

As for energy stocks, Constellation Energy Partners(CEP Quote) added 0.6% after Wachovia initiated coverage of the stock with an outperform rating.

UBS trimmed its price forecast on ethanol producers Verasun Energy(VSE Quote) to $21 a share from $28 and on Aventine Renewable Energy(AVR Quote) to $23 from $28.

The stocks traded down about 6% and 8%, respectively.

Major oil producers Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) and BP(BP Quote) were off 1.4% and 2.1%, respectively.

BP was lower after a panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker issued a report that was critical of the company's safety procedures. The panel was established after a 2005 explosion at a BP refinery in Texas killed 15 workers.