Oil prices fell further on the last trading session of the year on Friday, dipping to eight-month lows close to 23 dollars a barrel as dealers remained confident that adequate supplies would continue to flood the market.
A barrel of Brent North Sea reference crude for February delivery fell to 23.05 dollars from 23.71 at the close on Thursday.
In New York, the February light sweet crude contract fell 62 cents on Thursday to 25.85 dollars a barrel.
Prices had been galvanized earlier in the week by falling temperatures in the United States and warnings from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that it was time to cut output to give prices a fresh shot in the arm.
But the few dealers trading on Friday appeared unconcerned by the cold weather, believing that supplies and reserves should be adequate to meet demand even if the northern hemisphere winter remains chilly.
The GNI brokerage noted that the latest data on US stock levels were slowly removing the supply fears which earlier in the autumn sent prices rocketing above 35 dollars a barrel.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) reported on Thursday that crude stocks fell 1.3 million barrels to 290.5 last week -- a relatively modest drawdown given the time of year. The figures broadly matched those issued earlier by the American Petroleum Institute (API).
"The DOE confirmed the API numbers, with inventories at healthy levels and the supply deficit shrinking from year ago levels," GNI said in a research note -- LONDON (AFP)
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