Commodity Online
SINGAPORE : World oil prices fell to a 3-year low below $49 a barrel Friday in Asia as plunging stock markets, driven down by more bad U.S. economic news, battered investor confidence.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery was down 95 cents to $48.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.
The December contract, which expired Thursday, fell overnight by $4.00 to settle at $49.62 after sliding to $48.50, the lowest level since May 18, 2005.
Brent crude oil for January settlement fell as much as 68 cents, or 1.4%, to $47.40 a barrel, and traded at $48.07 at 11:53 a.m. Singapore time on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.
On Thursday, the contract fell $3.64, or 7%, to $48.08, the lowest settlement since May 20, 2005.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 1.0 cent to 99.7 cents a gallon. Heating oil gained 2.14 cents to $1.65 a gallon while natural gas for December delivery slid 3.8 cents to $6.28 per 1,000 cubic feet.
