Crude Oil Prices Fall Further

Crude prices are falling again Wednesday after the U.S. Coast Guard conducted its first aerial survey of oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico and confirmed that no major structural damage was caused by Hurricane Gustav.

October West Texas Crude was recently losing $1.50 at $108.21 a barrel, and Brent crude was down $1.20 at $107.14 a barrel. Near-month natural gas was sliding 18 cents at $7.08 per million British thermal units.

Cramer: Gulf Can't Make or Break Oil

Meanwhile, energy stocks are mixed in recent trading, with BP (BP Quote) gaining 1.2% at $54.66, Total (TOT Quote) moving 1.2% lower at $67.45, and shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote) edging 0.6% higher at $77.79.

The U.S. Oil Fund (USO Quote), an exchange-traded fund that closely tracks the performance of WTI futures on the Nymex, was falling 1.8% at $87.61.