Over the last decade the average refinery's annualized return on investment was only 5.5%, reports the Department of Energy, compared with 8.4% for long-term Treasurys.

FORBES: $2 Gas? We Love It

"This ongoing trend of slowing Chinese economic growth will translate to some additional downward revisions in global oil demand expectations" when OPEC, the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Department issue monthly reports next week, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates, in a note to clients.

NPR: Oil Sinks On China Manufacturing And US Supplies

Shares of BP slid by 1.6% to 408.5 pence in London after a report in the Financial Times said four of the company's five North Sea installations inspected in 2009 had failed to comply with emergency regulations on oil spills, according to offshore inspection reports from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

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