The price of oil fell below $87 a barrel today after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development cut its growth outlook for the US and the euro zone.
Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 73 cents to $86.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract had fallen 56 cents to finish at $87.18 a barrel on the Nymex last night.
Brent crude, which is used to set prices for many international varieties of oil, fell 64 cents to $109.26 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.
The Paris-based OECD said the combined economy of the 17 euro countries will contract by 0.4% this year, worse than May's 0.1% forecast. For 2013, it is expected to contract a further 0.1%.
The OECD also downgraded its forecasts for the US economy. Even if the White House and Congress strike a budget deal before January 1 and avoid the ''fiscal cliff'' of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, the OECD said the US will grow by only 2% next year, down from May's forecast of 2.6%.
Traders said weak economic growth would likely hurt demand for energy. Analysts said the OECD report refocused concerns on "the toxic effect the European crisis continues to have on global growth prospects."
Statistics from the Association of the German Petroleum Industry showed that German petrol consumption in September fell around 11% on the year.
