Oil prices have fallen by almost $2 a barrel to a six-week low below $89, as stock markets plummeted and concerns mounted over an economic slowdown in the US.
Stock markets across the world took a battering as fears spread that a financial package proposed by US President George W Bush last week would not be enough to prevent a recession.
By this evening, US crude had fallen by $1.76 to $88.81, while London Brent was down $1.46 at $87.77.
Floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is shut for the Martin Luther King Jr holiday but electronic trading was continuing.
