Oil hits new 4-year low as glut looms

Brent crude fell to a fresh four-year low under $70 a barrel after OPEC decided not to cut output, a move investors said would leave oil markets heavily oversupplied.

Saudi Arabia blocked calls from poorer members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for output reductions, triggering a rout in oil markets.

The sell-off continued with Brent reaching a low of $71.12, its weakest since July 2010. US crude oil hit a low of $67.75 a barrel, its lowest since May 2010.

Brent was headed for its steepest monthly decline since November 2008, after falling more than 15 percent this month.

It has lost more than a third of its value since June, falling from above $115 a barrel as increasing shale output in North America has helped create an oil glut at a time of sluggish global economic growth.

Russia’s most powerful oil official Igor Sechin said oil prices could fall to $60 or below by the end of the first half of next year. If prices remained low, Russia had the potential to cut between 200,000 and 300,000 barrels per day of production, Sechin said.