BP (BP) Punished as Oil Prices Plunge

Oil as gas prices dropped Wednesday, dragging many energy companies like BP (NYSE:BP) down with it.

Brent crude settled down $5.06 at $112.57 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures dropped $5.67 to settle at $98.21.

Natural gas for June delivery settled 6.5 cents, or 1.5%, lower, at $4.181 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The U.S. Oil Fund (USO) dropped 4.2 percent to closed at $39.35, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was down 2.9 percent to close at $74.28, and the U.S. gasoline fund LP (UGA) plunged 6.4 percent to close at $51.44.

BP provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products.

BP closed Wednesday at $43.96, down $0.60, or 1.35 percent.