Crude Oil Futures Drop Below $105

Oil futures were dropping again Tuesday in New York as OPEC ministers indicated output won't change and Hurricane Ike appeared less threatening to drilling and refining facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Crude for October delivery was recently down $2.16 at $104.18 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude was losing $2.25 to $101.19 a barrel.

Reformulated gasoline was losing 9 cents to $2.66 a gallon, and heating oil was off 8 cents at $2.94 a gallon. Natural gas was slumping 17 cents to $7.36 per million British thermal units.

Contributing to the decline in oil futures were remarks from the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, both members of OPEC, that the group wasn't likely to lower production in the near future.

Also bearish for crude were forecasts showing that Ike has lost some of its strength and is now believed to be on a track that will keep it south of much of the petroleum infrastructure operating in and along the Gulf.

Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote - Cramer on XOM - Stock Picks), Chevron (CVX Quote - Cramer on CVX - Stock Picks), ConocoPhillips (COP Quote - Cramer on COP - Stock Picks) and BP (BP Quote - Cramer on BP - Stock Picks) were all slightly lower. The U.S. Oil (USO Quote - Cramer on USO - Stock Picks) ETF was losing 1.9%.

Harder hit were the refiners. Tesoro (TSO Quote - Cramer on TSO - Stock Picks) was falling 6%, and Valero(VLO Quote - Cramer on VLO - Stock Picks) was dropping more than 8%.