Oil Falls to 13-Week Low on Speculation About Storm

Crude oil fell to a 13-week low amid speculation that Tropical Storm Edouard will miss most offshore oil facilities as it approaches the coast of Texas.

Futures fell as much as $5.60 a barrel, shrugging off port closings and rig evacuations in the Gulf, a threat to oil supplies from Iran and a fire at Valero Energy Corp.'s Houston refinery. Edouard, which may become a hurricane today, is on a course to make landfall in Texas tomorrow morning.

"A market that can't rally on bullish news is a bear market," an energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective, Tim Evans, said. "We're just seeing disappointment that for all of the tropical-storm news, the talk of Iran and Valero's explosion, all of these bullish stories are not pushing the price higher."