Oil prices tumbled in Asian trade today amid volatility in global financial markets and as world leaders gathered for the G20 economic summit to seek a way out of the worldwide downturn. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, fell US$1.17 to US$48.49 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for May delivery shed US$1.13 to US$48.10. World leaders, including the US president Barack Obama, will meet in London on Thursday to discuss ways of hauling the global economy out of its worst crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
"If you look at the economy globally, you don't see any convincing signs that the markets have turned around yet," said Jason Feer, the Asia Pacific general manager of energy market analysts Argus Media. The World Bank said on Tuesday the global economy is likely to shrink by 1.7 per cent this year, marking the first decline in world output since World War Two. The outlook "reflects the rapid deterioration in financial and economic conditions," the World Bank said.
"The fundamentals are driving (oil) price levels away from the 50-dollar level," said Jonathan Kornafel, the Asian director of energy consultants Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. Other analysts said the market was also awaiting for the release later today of the weekly US energy inventories report. Crude oil reserves increased last week to their highest level since 1993. *AFP
