Plunging crude prices hammer energy companies

NEW YORK (AP) – A Thanksgiving Day decision by the OPEC cartel not to cut oil production is hammering major energy companies in the U.S. and abroad.

Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil were down more than 4 percent in Friday’s light stock trading. Great Britain’s BP was down 6 percent. Natural gas producers are getting hit as well. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy’s stock was down almost 12 percent yesterday.

Benchmark U.S. crude prices plunged almost 7 percent $68.81 early Friday. If prices fall another 2 percent, less than $2, the cost for a barrel of oil will reach levels not seen since September 2009, when the U.S. was sliding into its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Falling energy prices are already being cited for boosting the confidence of consumers, who are spending a lot less to fill up their cars or heat their homes.