Oil: Oil prices fall after Hurricane Dennis

World oil prices have fallen in the wake of Hurricane Dennis. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, fell by 71 cents to close at 58.92 dollars a barrel.

Barclays Capital analyst John Xu said, "The crude (price) is retreating... as Hurricane Dennis was not as bad as people feared."

The market was also affected by Chinese trade figures showing imports of refined oil products were down 20 percent and crude oil imports were up only three percent.

The US National Hurricane Center reports that Dennis has been downgraded to a tropical depression.