In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for August delivery fell again, closing at $66.73/barrel, down $2.58. August reformulated gasoline lost 6.82 cents, to $1.7908/gallon.
Oil posted its third straight weekly loss as the lousy economic numbers piling up have driven much of the recovery optimism from the field.

The jobs report “is confirming what we saw earlier in the week with the dropping consumer confidence,” said Phil Flynn, of PFG BEST Research. “This reinforces the outlook for weak petroleum demand and should put downward pressure crude prices.”

Flynn added that, “On the fundamentals level, high levels of inventories, low demand and sufficient supply continue to point to lower prices.”

The only bright note was sounded by the Commerce Department, which reported orders for U.S.-made factory goods rose by the biggest amount in close to a year in May, climbing 1.2% on a big jump in orders for transportation equipment.

In the natgas arena, the fuel continued to languish, posting a loss on the week, with August futures shedding 8.5% to finish at $3.615 per million British thermal units.

Source: Crude Falls Again