Oil prices have plunged to seven-month lows near $91 a barrel on prospects of weaker energy demand amid a worsening global financial crisis after Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.
Brent North Sea crude tumbled $4.84 to $92.74 this evening, having earlier gone as low as $91.17 - the lowest level since February. US crude lost $4.24 to $96.94.
Oil prices were also kept down by news that damage to US oil platforms caused by Hurricane Ike had not been as bad as feared.
US officials said that Ike, which slammed into the US Gulf Coast on Saturday, had damaged about 10 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico where major energy installations are located.
Oil prices are down by more than a third in value from record levels of above $147 reached in July, as investors grow increasingly pessimistic about weakening energy demand amid signs the global economy is slowing down.
