Oil prices fall for fourth day

Crude oil fell as much as $US2.28, or 2.4%, to $US91.60 a barrel. This is the fourth day oil prices have declined after speculation that slowing global economic growth will reduce demand.

World markets are oversupplied and OPEC may review output levels for the first quarter of 2009, Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said October 4. Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state-owned oil company, yesterday cut its official selling prices for light crude exports to the US in November.

The contract fell 9 cents to $US93.88 a barrel on October 3, the lowest settlement price since September 16, after US lawmakers approved a $US700 billion bank-rescue plan and the country's Labor Department reported a bigger-than-expected, 159,000 drop in payrolls in September.

Oil dropped 12% last week as reports showed US fuel demand the previous four weeks was the lowest in almost seven years and manufacturing shrank in September at the fastest pace since the last recession in 2001.

Prices also fell as the dollar rose to a 13-month high against a basket of currencies, reducing the investment appeal of dollar-denominated commodities. The euro fell as low as $US1.3658 in early Asian trading from $US1.3772 in late New York trading last week, after Germany said it will guarantee personal bank deposits in a bid to stabilize the nation's banking system.

Brent crude oil for November settlement declined 31 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $US90.25 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange on October 3.

Author: Jo Amey