Oil sinks below $68 as OPEC keeps output target unchanged

Crude oil prices sank to a four-and-a-half year low on Thursday, on news that OPEC has kept its production levels unchanged. Hopes for a cut in output had all but faded after a Saudi Arabian oil minister’s comments a day prior.


Extending losses on the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January CLF5, -6.51% sank to as low as $67.75 a barrel during European afternoon trading hours, touching the lowest level since May 2010. The contract was down $4.58, or 6.2%, at $69.11 a barrel at the latest.

January Brent crude LCOF5, -0.22%  on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $4.71, or 6.1%, to $73.04 a barrel.
Extending losses on the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January CLF5, -6.55% sank to as low as $67.75 a barrel during European afternoon trading hours, touching the lowest level since May 2010. The contract was down $4.58, or 6.2%, at $69.11 a barrel at the latest.

January Brent crude LCOF5, -0.25%  on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $4.71, or 6.1%, to $73.04 a barrel.