EU Emission Permits Decline as Crude Oil Falls to Six-Month Low

By Mathew Carr

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon dioxide permits dropped as crude oil fell to its lowest in more than six months, potentially cutting the cost of clean-burning natural gas.

EU emission allowances for December lost 50 cents, or 2.1 percent, to 23.40 euros ($33.52) a metric ton on London's European Climate Exchange at 7:36 a.m. local time. They have risen 4.8 percent this year.

European power utilities need double the number of carbon allowances to burn coal instead of gas, which is linked to the price of oil products. The bloc's emissions-trading program is the world's biggest greenhouse-gas market.

Crude futures fell 2.1 percent to $99.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. They were earlier today at $98.46 a barrel, the lowest since Feb. 26.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net