Oil prices fell to near a 20-month low of $60 a barrel Tuesday as hopes waned that a huge Chinese spending plan will do much to avert a prolonged slowdown in the global economy. Retail gasoline prices also dipped for a 17th week since July 4, falling below $2 a gallon in a number of states and approaching $1.50 at some service stations. Utah motorists on Tuesday were paying an average of $2.35 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline compared with the national average price of $2.20, according to AAA Utah. A month ago, Utahns were paying an average of $3.45 a gallon for unleaded regular. A year ago the average price stood at $3.03. Utahns who were filling up their automobile tanks in the major population areas of the state, however, were enjoying some of the best prices. AAA Utah reported the average cost in the Salt Lake City/Ogden area was $2.24 a gallon although some stations were selling the fuel from $1.99 a gallon to $2.17 a gallon, according to www.utahgasprices.com. In the Provo/Orem area the cost of unleaded regular averaged $2.30, according to AAA Utah. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $3.08 to settle at $59.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since March 2007. Prices had dipped a dollar below that earlier in the Advertisement day. Oil has fallen about 59 percent since reaching a record $147.27 in mid-July. Analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland noted the high volatility accompanying falling prices. Although the Nymex contract is trading near first-half 2007 prices, the difference then between daily highs and lows was around $1.50 a barrel, while now the average daily range is around $5.50 a barrel with recent daily peaks at $9.50, Jakob said. Oil prices and stock markets jumped Monday after China said it planned to spend $586 billion in a bid to spur economic growth. But pessimism soon returned as investors focused again on a swooning U.S. economy, which faces its worst recession in decades.

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