Oil prices rose slid this evening with New York crude falling under $37 a barrel as the market reacted to forecasts of weak energy demand made at the end of last week.
US crude shed 71 cents to $36.80 a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude reversed 99 cents to $43.82.
Trading on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange was shut on Monday owing to a public holiday in the US, leaving investors able to trade only electronically.
Last Friday, the OPEC oil producers' cartel trimmed its forecasts for global oil demand, forecasting that it would shrink by 0.67% in 2009 because of 'economic depression' in industrialised countries.
Also last week, the International Energy Agency cut its forecast for global oil demand this year, but warned about a future supply crunch because of current low investment levels.
