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Byline: CHRISTINA WISE
Energy prices cratered for a second straight day on Thursday, hitting their cheapest levels in nearly three months.
January crude oil futures slid as low as $42.50 a barrel intraday -- the lowest since Sept. 9 -- before closing down $2.24 at $43.25 a barrel. That's well below the late October record of $55.67.
Other energy futures also jumped on the southbound trail. January heating oil futures tumbled 7.21 cents to $1.2572 after dipping to $1.2475 a gallon intraday, the lowest since Sept. 20.
The sell-off started Wednesday on larger-than-expected U.S. energy inventories, particularly heating oil. Crude oil prices dived $3.64, their biggest one-day decline since September 2001.
On Thursday, the government reported higher-than-expected natural gas inventories.
Seth Kleinman, oil market analyst at PFC Energy, said several factors are pressuring oil prices.