LONDON, Jan 15: Oil prices sank close to $35 a barrel on Thursday after Opec crude producers trimmed their demand forecasts for 2009 because of the global economic downturn.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, tumbled $1.84 to $35.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), after falling as low as $35.05.

Brent North Sea crude for February was down 27 cents at $44.81 on London’s InterContinental Exchange. The contract expires at the close.

Prices had climbed in earlier trade on Thursday, recovering slightly after a mixed performance on Wednesday.

But prices turned lower after Opec cut its forecasts for global oil demand, predicting that demand would contract by a bigger-than-expected 0.2 per cent this year.

“The depressed world economy is expected to have a large impact on oil demand this year,” especially in industrialised countries, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries wrote in its latest monthly report on Thursday. —AFP