Oil slides on Bush refinery pledge

President’s going to work with Congress to ease construction regulations; crude sinks nearly 3%

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Oil prices fell Wednesday after President Bush renewed his call for oil companies to build more refineries and said he is going to work Congress to pass a bill making it easier to them to do so.

U.S. light crude for December delivery tumbled $1.79 to $60.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile exchange, a drop of 2.9 percent.
Profit-taking in some refined products, especially heating oil, also helped push prices lower.

“We need more supply of gasoline for the sake of our consumers and for the sake of our economy,” Bush said during an address to the Economic Club of Washington, Reuters reported.

“I’m going to work with Congress to pass a bill that makes it easier for current refineries to expand and encourages the construction of new refineries,” the news agency quoted him as saying.

CNN/Money