NEW YORK _ Oil prices fluctuated Thursday, erasing an earlier rally as growing concerns about falling U.S. demand for energy clashed with supply threats from a fire at a key Turkish pipeline.Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 21 cents to US$118.79 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but prices were alternating between positive and negative territory. Crude sank more than $6 over the previous three days, bringing prices $30 lower than its July high above $147 a barrel.Oil earlier jumped above $121 a barrel after pro-Kurdish news agency Firat said the separatist group Kurdistan Workers` Party, known as PKK, admitted sabotaging the Turkish section of the critical Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline Tuesday night.Turkey`s state-run Anatolia news agency reported that the fire, which was said to be under control Thursday, could cause the pipeline to be shut down for up to 15 days, stoking supply worries among oil market traders.But those concerns seemed to fade later in the day, prompting some investors to cash in on an increasingly rare oil rally, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill.It underscores the bearish nature of this market when it can`t respond to seemingly bullish news like the pipeline fire, Ritterbusch said.At the pump, retail gas prices tumbled further overnight. A gallon of regular fell on average just over a penny to $3.849 (C$ ...
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