Oil Prices Fall To Near Four Year Low

New York, NY, Dec. 4, 2008--Oil prices fell Thursday to lows last seen nearly four years ago as more bleak news from the world's largest economy raised fears crude could tumble below $40 by the end of the year.

After sinking more than $1 earlier in the day to approach levels traded at in February 2005, light sweet crude was trading at $46.10, down 69 cents in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract fell 17 cents overnight to settle at $46.79.

"You could see prices testing $40 by the end of the year because the economic data is really ugly at the moment," said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore.

Oil prices have tumbled about 69 percent since peaking at $147.27 in July.