Reply #3: Oil hovers near $40 despite OPEC output cut

[ozymandius]

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near 4 1/2-year lows Thursday in Asia as persistent investor pessimism over global crude demand outweighed OPEC's largest-ever production cut.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery edged up 26 cents to $40.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. Earlier, it fell as low as $39.19 — a level not seen since at least July 2004.

The 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40 of global oil supply, said Wednesday it planned to reduce its output quotas by 2.2 million barrels a day.

But markets had already expected a vastly reduced flow of oil and traders focused instead on troubling economic data that points to a long and severe global economic slump.

....

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures were up 1.25 cents to $1.0180 a gallon. Heating oil was up 2.7 cents at $1.4695 a gallon while natural gas for January delivery fell 1 cent to $5.609 per 1,000 cubic feet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices