Growth in oil stumbles- Oman Crude- $46.98 barrel!

On the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Oman crude oil closed at US$46.98 a barrel yesterday, the first time it has settled below $50 since it started trading on the exchange last year.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures fell for a third straight day yesterday, hitting a 22-month low of $54.67 a barrel. US crude has dropped 62 per cent since hitting a record high of $147 in July.

The commodity has lost value in line with a deepening sense of gloom about the global economy. Germany officially entered recession yesterday and BT, the UK-based telecommunications company, announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs.

Recent US data on oil inventories show levels of petrol in storage have risen faster than expected as the economy slows. Demand for petrol continued to slide last week in the world’s largest economy despite lower prices at the pump, MasterCards Advisors reported on Tuesday.

In its monthly oil market report, the IEA reduced its demand growth forecast for next year from 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 300,000 bp.