Crude oil dips below $54 a barrel
19 Nov 2008
Crude oil prices fell further, dipping below $54 today, hammered by fears of a worsening of the global economic downturn and a general fall in demand amidst rising inventories with major consumers.
US light, sweet crude for December was down 77 cents at $53.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in afternoon trade in Europe, down from Tuesday level of $54.39, the lowest since January 2007.
In London, January Brent crude fell 56 cents to $51.28 on the ICE Futures exchange.
Crude prices have lost 63 per cent since reaching a record $147.27 a barrel in mid-July.
Meanwhile, gasoline futures on the Nymex slipped 1.51 cents to $1.1217 a gallon. Heating oil was unchanged at $1.7579, a gallon while the December natural gas contract rose 2.8 cents to $6.544 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Analysts expect oil prices to bottom out as they reach the psychological level of $50 a barrel.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is meeting next week to decide on another production cut.