Oil Prices Hit 17-Month Low: Off 57% Since High

Singapore, Oct. 27, 2008--Oil prices fell to 17-month lows at $63 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors weighed Friday's OPEC output cut against growing evidence of a severe global economic slowdown that would undermine crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 32 cents to $63.83 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.

Investors brushed off a 1.5 million barrel-a-day cut announced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Friday, focusing instead on falling crude demand as economies across the globe reel from the impact of a credit crisis.

On Friday, oil fell $3.69 to settle at $64.15. Prices have plunged 57 percent from a record $147.27 on July 11.