Oil prices fall further on demand fears

World oil prices fell further today in a market increasingly worried that strains in the global economy are leading to a wider slowdown in energy demand, dealers said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was USD 1.00 lower at USD 92.97 a barrel, after sliding USD 4.56 to USD 93.97 at the close of floor trading yesterday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent North Sea crude for November dropped 87 cents to USD 89.69 dollars after a fall of USD 4.77 to settle at USD 90.56 yesterday in London.
Yesterday’s heavy falls came despite the US Senate’s approval of a government plan to buy up to USD 700 billion worth of tainted mortgage-related assets at the root of a global financial crisis.
Oil prices have already dropped sharply from record high levels above USD 147 a barrel in July on worries that demand is shrinking in the US-led global slowdown.
“Alarm bells are going off around the world,” he said.
Even if the US bailout bill passes the House of Representatives in a vote expected later today, Johnson said he did not expect oil prices “to go soaring.”