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Oil hovers around $50

07 January 2009 07:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil fell for a second day in New York on forecasts the U.S. economy will worsen, curtailing demand in the worldâ€™s biggest energy-consuming country, Bloomberg reports.
Oil for February delivery fell as much as 35 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $48.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $48.39 at 7:23 a.m. in Singapore. Yesterday futures dropped 23 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $48.58 a barrel.
Brent crude oil for February settlement rose 91 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $50.53 a barrel on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was highest close and the first settlement above $50 a barrel since Nov. 28.
The U.S. Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report on inventories of crude oil and fuels at 10:30 a.m. today in Washington.
OPEC, supplier of more than 40 percent of the worldâ€™s oil, cut output 1.5 percent in December to the lowest in 16 months to counter the first annual drop in prices since 2001, a Bloomberg News survey showed today.