BEIJING -- Oil prices tumbled below 66 U.S. dollars a barrel Wednesday as investors shifted their concern again to a gloomy global economic outlook and its potential impact on energy demand.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for December delivery dropped 5.23 dollars a barrel to close at 65.30 dollars.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for December fell 4.57 dollars to settle at 61.87 dollars on the Inter Continental Exchange.
The dip reversed Tuesday's upward tendency in prices, buoyed by reported cuts in crude exports by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members as well as the optimistic sentiment ahead of the U.S. presidential election result.
PRICE DIVE
The weekly average oil prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces 40 percent of the world's oil, dropped to 57.68 U.S. dollars per barrel last week, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.
It is the first time that weekly prices have dipped below 60 since the end of March 2007.
Partly triggered by the global financial crisis, oil prices have more than half halved from their July peak of around 147 dollars. In October alone, crude prices tumbled 32 percent.
Energy analysts said the steepness of the fall was due in part to heightened concerns over weakening demand stemming from economic recession and a resurgent U.S. dollar.
Squeezed under mounting pressure, OPEC ministers agreed at an emergency meeting on Oct. 24 to reduce output by 1.5 million barrels per day to 27.3 million from Nov. 1, in an attempt to stem the slide.
OPEC members have been divided over the output cut as each member has its own target price. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the cut as "wrong for the world economy," saying it was "absolutely scandalous" amid a global economic crisis.
However, as the decision failed to live up to people's expectations, observers believe that OPEC may launch another round of output cuts to salvage the market.
Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has proposed an additional production cut of 1 million barrels from OPEC's oil supply in December or before.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for December delivery dropped 5.23 dollars a barrel to close at 65.30 dollars.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for December fell 4.57 dollars to settle at 61.87 dollars on the Inter Continental Exchange.
The dip reversed Tuesday's upward tendency in prices, buoyed by reported cuts in crude exports by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members as well as the optimistic sentiment ahead of the U.S. presidential election result.
PRICE DIVE
The weekly average oil prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces 40 percent of the world's oil, dropped to 57.68 U.S. dollars per barrel last week, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.
It is the first time that weekly prices have dipped below 60 since the end of March 2007.
Partly triggered by the global financial crisis, oil prices have more than half halved from their July peak of around 147 dollars. In October alone, crude prices tumbled 32 percent.
Energy analysts said the steepness of the fall was due in part to heightened concerns over weakening demand stemming from economic recession and a resurgent U.S. dollar.
Squeezed under mounting pressure, OPEC ministers agreed at an emergency meeting on Oct. 24 to reduce output by 1.5 million barrels per day to 27.3 million from Nov. 1, in an attempt to stem the slide.
OPEC members have been divided over the output cut as each member has its own target price. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the cut as "wrong for the world economy," saying it was "absolutely scandalous" amid a global economic crisis.
However, as the decision failed to live up to people's expectations, observers believe that OPEC may launch another round of output cuts to salvage the market.
Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has proposed an additional production cut of 1 million barrels from OPEC's oil supply in December or before.
