Crude oil prices fall below $37

17 February 2009

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, cancelling out some of the gains made towards the end of last week.

US crude had experienced a price rise of more than ten per cent on Friday as values rallied on the back of President Obama's economic stimulus plans.

However, the release of new economic data at the beginning of this week saw the market take another downturn.

Figures showed that the countries such as Japan - one of the world's largest oil consumers - had already experienced a contraction in its economy, which is likely to have a further effect on demand.

US crude oil for March delivery fell 88 cents to $36.63 (£26) a barrel in electronic trade, while London Brent crude for April dropped to $43.31.

Many analysts expect prices to remain low in the coming months, which will come as good news for home heating oil customers who are unlikely to see any significant rise in the cost of the domestic fuel.

However, they suggested that world oil demand will begin to return in 2010 and will rise by around one million barrels a day throughout the year.

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