LONDON, Jan 16: Global crude futures plunged on Tuesday after oil kingpin Saudi Arabia signalled that it would not back an emergency meeting of the Opec cartel aimed at stemming the recent plunge in oil prices.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, slid 92 cents to $52.07 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery fell 71 cents to $52.41 per barrel in electronic trading. The contract expires at the close.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said there was no need to call an emergency meeting of the Opec. “Actually there is no reason for a meeting as all the fundamentals (of supply and demand) are significantly healthier than they were at the time of the Doha meeting,” the minister said.—AFP