Oil prices end volatile year below $40
London, Dec 31: Oil prices fell under $40 on Wednesday, Dec 31 at the end of a tumultuous 2008 which saw prices hit record peaks before plunging to multi-year lows. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in Feb fell $1.15 to $ 39 a barrel in morning trade on London's InterContinental Exchange.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February, slid $1.19 to $37.84. Prices soared in the first half of the year on fears of supply disruptions, reaching record highs above $147 in July, before a sharp global economic downturn slashed world demand for energy and pulled prices sharply lower.
New
York
crude
plunged
earlier
this
month
to
below
$33,
its
lowest
point
for
almost
five
years.
"The
market
had
a
pretty
torrid
few
months
...
a
hell
of
a
lot
of
uncertainty,"
said
Mark
Pervan,
senior
commodities
analyst
at
ANZ
bank.
With
recession
curbing
the
world's
appetite
for
energy,
prices
risk
slumping
further
in
2009,
according
to
analysts.
Pervan
said
he
expected
prices
to
fall
a
little
lower
in
January
before
bottoming
out
in
Feb
and
rising
in
March
or
April.
"There
is
no
quick
fix,
quick
recovery
in
the
near
term,"
said
the
energy
market
analyst.
OneIndia
News
(With
inputs
from
Agencies)