MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Oil hits lowest price in four months

Crude-oil futures fell to a four-month low yesterday, as speculators continued to liquidate positions.

Rising inventories and a slowdown in the growth of demand continued to weigh on prices.

??Because there was no physical shortage driving prices to their earlier record peaks, there is no residual tightness now to prevent a protracted decline,'' said Tim Evans, senior energy analyst with IFR Markets in New York.

December crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell as low as US$56.93 a barrel before closing at US$57.53 a barrel, down 27 cents from the day before. It was lowest close for a front-month contract since late July.

Oil prices, which hit a record high of US$70.85 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in late August, fell in four of the past five sessions, and ended the week down about US$3, or 5 percent.