Crude prices deepen losses amid weak demand forecast

Crude price fell to fresh lows on Friday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its global demand outlook.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 2.14 U.S. dollars to settle at 57.81 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest since May 2009. Brent crude for January delivery lost 1.83 dollars to close at 61.85 dollars a barrel.

In its Oil Market Report for December, the IEA cut the outlook for 2015 global oil demand growth by 230,000 barrels per day (kb/d) to 0.9 million barrels per day (mb/d) on expectations of lower fuel consumption in Russia and other oil-exporting countries.

Oil prices have lost more than 40 percent since June amid a supply glut. Meanwhile, a strong dollar has limited supportive price effects on demand, which is now seen reaching 93.3 mb/d next year, from 92.4 mb/d in 2014, the report added.

Global production fell by 340 kb/d in November to 94.1 mb/d on lower OPEC supplies. Annual gains of 2.1 mb/d were split evenly between OPEC and nonOPEC producers.

Surging U.S. light tight oil supply looks set to push total non OPEC output to record growth of 1.9 mb/d for 2014, but the pace is expected to slow to 1.3 mb/d for next year. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude production reached 9. 12 million barrels per day for the week ended Dec. 5.

OPEC, which pumps a third of the world's crude, maintained its collective production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day on a meeting in Vienna on Nov. 27.

Kuwait, the third largest producer of OPEC, lowered its January crude price to Asian customers Wednesday, becoming the third OPEC member to offer discounts after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Traders thought the price competition from crude producers will drag the prices even lower.