Oil recovers after three-and-a-half-year low

21 November 2008

Oil has risen once again above the $50 (€40) per barrel mark after having slumped to a three-and-a-half-year low yesterday of $48.25.

It declined this week by 11 per cent - the steepest weekly fall since the start of October.

At its three-and-a-half-year low oil dropped to nearly $100 cheaper than a barrel cost in July.

But commenting on the fall through the $50 mark, Christopher Bellew at Bache Commodities told Reuters: "[It] may have been the final push to the downside and if equities can improve a bit we could see that all the considerable amount of bearish news is finally priced in."

The price on the market now stands at $50.26 per barrel for US crude and $49.47 for Brent crude, having risen by 1.7 per cent and 2.89 per cent respectively.

Home heating oil customers meanwhile, have felt the effects of the recent price declines.

The Central Statistics Office released inflation figures which showed that domestic fuel prices have dropped by 11 per cent over the last month.

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