Oil price fell below US$52/barrel

Oil plunged below US$52 a barrel Thursday to its lowest price since May 2005, extending a sharp decline that has been led by dampened heating oil demand. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, fell 2.14 U.S. dollars to close at 51.88 a barrel.

Crude oil has tumbled by 15 percent so far this year in a huge sell-off that was kicked off by investment funds last year. The stoked by a historically warm U.S. winter that has left supplies of heating fuel barely touched. Also adding to the price slide Thursday was the resumption of oil shipments through Belarus to other parts of Europe, and the belief that the

OPEC won't announce another production cut just yet to stall the market's drop.

POSTED: Jan 12, 2007