Oil Prices Continue To Fall on Recession Worries

Vienna, Austria--Oil prices hit a 14-month low Thursday as bad U.S. economic news stoked fears that a significant global economic slowdown will undermine demand for crude.

Concerns over the economy overrode growing expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could opt to cut back production in an effort to shore up prices.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery was down $2.44 to $72.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract fell overnight $4.09 to settle at $74.54, the lowest settlement price since Aug. 31, 2007.

Oil prices are now half of the peak they reached in mid-July.

"The market is just very worried about a severe international economic downturn," said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "They're thinking that oil consumption will be weaker than expected."