Oil prices slipped on Friday in a market shaken by worries over slumping energy demand as the global economy grinds to a near halt under a spreading financial crisis.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, fell 54 cents to close at 38.94 dollars per barrel. The contract expired at the close.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery shed 10 cents to settle at 41.89 dollars a barrel.
Andy Lipow at Lipow Oil Associates said that oil prices were echoing sell-offs in equities markets.
Earlier the New York contract had lost more than two dollars as Wall Street's blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 200 points.
The modest loss in closing oil prices followed Thursday's sharp rebound after the US Energy Information Administration (IEA) posted a surprise fall in US crude reserves, raising hopes for renewed demand in the world's biggest energy consumer.
New York crude rallied almost five dollars and Brent oil jumped more than two dollars after the IEA said US crude stocks fell 200,000 barrels in the week to February 13, after several weeks of big increases.
However, a greater-than-expected rise in gasoline stockpiles indicated that energy demand was still low, according to traders.
"Despite the run-up yesterday, the pressure emanating from global equities is still permeating the commodities world and causing downward pressure along the entire curve," said analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
The next New York benchmark contract, for delivery in April, could rapidly face pressure, analysts warned. It closed Friday at 40.03 dollars.
Global equities plunged again on Friday amid deep concern over the troubled financial sector and the worldwide downturn.
"Fears over a deteriorating global economic outlook sent equity markets tumbling... as investors shed riskier positions, with oil prices tracking them lower amid weakening demand concerns," said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar.
Last week, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the cartel that pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil, trimmed its forecasts for global oil demand for 2009 by 0.67 percent because of "economic depression" in industrialised countries.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, fell 54 cents to close at 38.94 dollars per barrel. The contract expired at the close.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery shed 10 cents to settle at 41.89 dollars a barrel.
Andy Lipow at Lipow Oil Associates said that oil prices were echoing sell-offs in equities markets.
Earlier the New York contract had lost more than two dollars as Wall Street's blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 200 points.
The modest loss in closing oil prices followed Thursday's sharp rebound after the US Energy Information Administration (IEA) posted a surprise fall in US crude reserves, raising hopes for renewed demand in the world's biggest energy consumer.
New York crude rallied almost five dollars and Brent oil jumped more than two dollars after the IEA said US crude stocks fell 200,000 barrels in the week to February 13, after several weeks of big increases.
However, a greater-than-expected rise in gasoline stockpiles indicated that energy demand was still low, according to traders.
"Despite the run-up yesterday, the pressure emanating from global equities is still permeating the commodities world and causing downward pressure along the entire curve," said analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
The next New York benchmark contract, for delivery in April, could rapidly face pressure, analysts warned. It closed Friday at 40.03 dollars.
Global equities plunged again on Friday amid deep concern over the troubled financial sector and the worldwide downturn.
"Fears over a deteriorating global economic outlook sent equity markets tumbling... as investors shed riskier positions, with oil prices tracking them lower amid weakening demand concerns," said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar.
Last week, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the cartel that pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil, trimmed its forecasts for global oil demand for 2009 by 0.67 percent because of "economic depression" in industrialised countries.
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