NEW YORK — Crude oil prices fell below $125 yesterday for the first time in more than six weeks, with light, sweet crude for September delivery falling $3.98 to settle at $124.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil prices, which hit a record high above $147 a barrel less than two weeks ago, have now fallen in six of the last seven sessions.

While gas prices are somewhat reflecting that drop, diesel — for most of Canada, at least — is reacting far more slowly.

The average Canadian diesel pump price remains at about $1.47 a liter, which isn’t far off of what it was a couple weeks ago.

Atlantic Canada is still the region with the highest prices — close to $1.70 per liter in most of Newfoundland — while Alberta for the most part is seeing prices at around $1.40.

As for the global price of oil, the factors reportedly at work in lowering the cost per barrel are a slightly stronger US dollar, reports that people are using less gasoline as evidenced by a larger-than-expected increase in U.S. gasoline inventories, fears that the slowing U.S. economy could trigger a worldwide economic slowdown and therefore affect oil demand, indications that tensions are easing between oil-producer Iran and the U.S. over Iran’s nuclear program, and news that a Chevron oil pipeline in Nigeria had reopened following an attack on it in June.

Meanwhile, the debate on the role speculators have had in the run-up of oil prices continues. The US Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with debate on legislation to curb speculation in energy markets as lawmakers seek to respond to record oil prices. But a new government report says that fundamental supply and demand factors provide the best explanation for the recent crude oil price increases, not speculators.