(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Oil prices dropped Thursday as lawmakers in the US did not agree on the fiscal cliff that has the potential to slow economic growth and demand for energy.
Futures dropped as much as 0.5 percent in New York after rising the most in two weeks yesterday on a plan by the Federal Reserve to expand its monetary stimulus. Republicans have serious differences with President Barack Obama's budget proposals, House Speaker John Boehner said.
The Fed's bond purchases cannot offset the full effect of the fiscal cliff, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, fell 19 cents to $86.58 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent North Sea crude for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchanged slid 64 cents, or 0.6% to $109.35.
The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $22.79 to New York-traded West Texas Intermediate.
Crude prices were down following "preliminary warnings from the cartel that downside demand risk was increasing," said Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at Ernst and Young.
"Markets continue to be overshadowed by concerns of looming oversupply next year with limited demand growth."
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