Oil Drops Below $44 a Barrel

By MARK WILLIAMS

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Oil tumbled below $44 a barrel Thursday and the average gallon of gasoline is now less than $1.80 nationally, both four-year lows, as the number of people continuing to receive government aid reached a 26-year high, factory orders hit an eight-year low and major corporations slashed jobs.

Though the unprecedented decline in energy prices provides some relief to consumers and businesses, it has occurred as the nation dips into recession.

Part of the reason gasoline prices have fallen so low is that many people no longer have jobs to drive to and fewer people have money to spend shopping. Gasoline futures fell below a dollar a gallon.

Veteran energy analysts were stunned as they watched light sweet crude fall $2.91, more than 6%, to $43.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange by early afternoon.

Just four months ago, crude rocketed close to $150 and the average gallon of gasoline went for more than $4 per gallon.

No one believed crude would lose $100 in value by December, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

Some analysts believe demand could evaporate even more early next year because of a severe global economic slowdown.

"I think the traders are looking at that and they're saying, 'Well, December is OK, it's relatively balanced here and there, but my goodness all of these layoffs after Christmas, the cold weather, the cocooning, the bills coming due after Christmas, January is just going to be awful,'" Kloza said.