Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Oil fell for a second day in New York on signs the global slowdown is limiting demand in China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest crude users.
Japan entered the first recession since 2001 as its gross domestic product fell an annualized 0.1 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 after shrinking 3.7 percent in the previous period. China National Petroleum Corp., the country's biggest oil producer, said demand has contracted ``sharply'' since September because of the global credit crisis.
``There doesn't seem to be much out there to stop the fall in prices,'' said Toby Hassall, research analyst at Commodity Warrants Pty in Sydney. ``Weak demand and a pretty bleak demand outlook'' may push oil prices as low as $50 this week, he said.
Crude oil for December delivery dropped as much as $1.44, or 2.5 percent, to $55.60 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $55.73 at 9:35 a.m. in Singapore. The contract slumped 2.1 percent to settle at $57.04 on Nov. 14, having touched $54.67 the previous day, the lowest since Jan. 30, 2007. Prices declined 6.6 percent last week as world equity markets dropped, Germany entered its worst recession in 12 years and U.S. retail sales fell for a fourth straight month. |