Oil Prices Fall Below $70 on Recession Fears

Singapore, Oct. 22, 2008--Oil prices fell below $70 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors shrugged off a looming OPEC production cut after company forecasts suggested the U.S. may be headed for a severe economic slowdown that crimps crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery dropped $2.59 to $69.59 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.

The November contract expired Tuesday and fell $3.36 to settle at $70.89. Last Thursday, that contract had declined as low as $68.57 a barrel, the lowest since June 2007.

Crude investors have followed equity markets this week, looking for signs on how the U.S. economy will weather the current global financial turmoil.

"Oil is now highly correlated with the stock market," said Clarence Chu, a trader with market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. "People are looking to the Dow for sentiment on the economy."