Northwest Louisiana is under a heat advisory until 7 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service said this afternoon.

Oil prices are slightly lower today, below $122 a barrel, after sliding overnight on expectations that this year's surge in energy costs is undermining U.S. gasoline demand. By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for September delivery had shed 51 cents to $121.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $2.54 to settle at $122.19 a barrel on Tuesday. In London, September Brent crude was down 42 cents at $122.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Investors expect more evidence of falling gasoline consumption when the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration releases its weekly oil inventory report later Wednesday, said Mark Pervan, a senior commodities strategist with ANZ Bank in Melbourne. "People are looking closely at the deteriorating demand for petrol," Pervan said. "The market will probably fence-sit ... ahead of the DOE numbers." Gasoline stocks were expected to rise 400,000 barrels in the petroleum supply report, according to the average of analysts' estimates in a survey by energy research firm Platts. The survey also showed that analysts projected crude oil inventories to fall 1.3 million barrels. Crude futures have sharply fallen over the past 19 days. The price of oil has dropped in seven of the last 10 sessions, and is down about 17 percent from its peak above $147 a barrel earlier this month. Prices remain about 60 percent higher than at this time last year. According to analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria, comments from OPEC President Chakib Khelil indicating that he did not see the need for the oil cartel to cut production even if prices continued to fall also were accentuating the bearish sentiment. Lending some support to oil prices was Tuesday's announcement from Royal Dutch Shell PLC saying Tuesday it may not be able to fulfill some oil-export contracts after Nigerian militants sabotaged a pipeline in the Niger Delta. Militant attacks on Nigerian oil facilities have trimmed nearly one quarter of the country's regular daily output. The strongest Nigerian militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said it sabotaged two pipelines early Monday in the southern oil-producing region. Nigerian media reported the main pipeline normally carries about 130,000 barrels per day of crude oil from wells to export terminals. Shell didn't specify how much oil production was cut by the militant attack or how long repairs would take. Shell said its so-called "force majeure" announcement covers three months of supply contracts from the affected pipeline, but didn't specify how much oil that covered. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 1.09 cents to U$3.4613 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices lost 1.17 cents to $2.9960 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 3.8 cents at $9.092 per 1,000 cubic feet.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ Despite a troubled stock market, state retirement system officials say their members and retirees can rest easy in their investments. Though several systems lost money during the fiscal year that ended June 30, previous years were more successful, officials say, and the overall outlook is still good. Brendan Brosnan, Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System chief investment officer, says state retirement system benefits are not dependent on market performance. If a long-term decline in the market drops systems to where they are no longer financially sound, Brosnan says taxpayers would be the ones funding the difference.

Officials with AEP SWEPCO say they will not shut off electricity to customers during ongoing heat advisories.

BLANCHARD — A woman stabbed a pit bull that attacked her after she attempted to discipline a child Tuesday morning. Kathryn Long, 27, was taken to LSU Hospital in Shreveport to be treated for severe dog bites to her arm and buttocks, said Cindy Chadwick, Caddo sheriff's spokeswoman. Long raised her voice to a child who apparently broke a glass, and the dog attacked Long, Chadwick said. Long grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed the dog, which belonged to her boyfriend. She and the dog went outside, still struggling. Neighbors helped subdue the animal by beating it with a pipe and a board. Deputies say the dog will be euthanized because of the viciousness of the attack and the extent of its wounds.

The following streets could cause inconveniences for motorists this week. Shreveport's inconvenienced streets: n U.S. Highway 171 from 70th Street to Garden Valley. n 4500 block of Alton Street. n East Kings Highway at Bert Kouns. n 2400 block of Lakecrest Drive. n 100 block of Caddo Street. n 1900 block of Horton Avenue. n 2000 block of Legardy Street. n Walnut Hill Drive. n Brunch Drive. n 8400 block of Creswell Avenue. n Bernstein from Hollywood to Nicholson Street. n Travis and Fannin. Closures n 3800 block of Creswell Avenue. n Douglas between Travis and Fannin. Bossier City streets that will be having roadwork next week: n Riverside Drive from Diamond Jacks Boulevard to Interstate 20. n Viking Drive between Airline Drive and Benton Road. n 4200 block of Parkway Drive. n 4900 block of Longstreet Place. n 5000 block of General Polk Drive. n 900 block of Central Park Drive.

In most people's minds , the term "police cruiser" conjures images of powerful muscle cars capable of hitting 100 miles per hour or more.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Louisiana has lost nearly 16,000 jobs since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001. That's according to a study released by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which blames the loss on the U.S. trade deficit with China. In 2007 alone, the alliance says Louisiana saw more than 1,600 workers lose their jobs. The losses tracked along many economic sectors, including company and enterprise management. Nationwide, the trade deficit is blamed for the loss of at least 2.3 million jobs. In addition, the manufacturing group says U.S. wages have been pushed down by workers who have been forced to take lower-paying jobs.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ Here are the winning numbers selected Tuesday in the Louisiana Lottery: Pick 3 2-9-5 (two, nine, five) Maximum prize $500 Pick 4 8-2-2-2 (eight, two, two, two) Maximum prize $5,000

Outdoor burning is illegal in rural Caddo beginning this morning and will remain so until the parish gets significant rainfall, the area's fire chiefs decide.