Oil prices retreat on supply worries

Oil prices fell Thursday as traders were worried that global crude supply might surpass demand.

Oil prices retreated to a five-year low Thursday as there was no sign that producers would cut production in response to the slump.

Ali Al-Naimi, the Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would find it difficult to give up market share by cutting crude production, according to Saudi Press Agency.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that crude output from Russia, the world's largest crude producer, will be similar to this year's 10.6 million barrels a day in 2015.

"The price will stabilize itself. Some investment projects by oil companies may be reconsidered, but so far they have not adjusted anything," Novak told reporters at a meeting on Doha, Qatari this week.

Suhail Al-Mazrouei,the Energy Minister of United Arab Emirates, said Sunday that OPEC would refrain from cutting output even if prices fall as low as 40 dollars.

U.S. crude output reached 9.137 million barrels per day, the highest level since 1983. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the U.S. crude contract, increased 2.9 million barrels to 27.8 million barrels last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 2.36 U.S. dollars to settle at 54.11 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,while Brent crude for February delivery lost 1.91 dollars to close at 59.27 dollars a barrel.