LONDON, Dec 4: Oil prices fell more than $2 on Thursday to the lowest levels for almost four years due to growing concern about demand in the world’s biggest energy consuming nation, the United States, traders said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January fell below $43 to $42.90 a barrel in late European trading -- the lowest level since February 2005.

Later on London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent recovered slightly to stand at $43.11, down $2.33 from Wednesday.

Light sweet crude for January sank below $45 to $44.25 per barrel -- last seen in January 2005 -- on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The contract later stood at 44.61, down $2.18.

“Oil prices continued to decline and pushed below $46, as fears of a prolonged global recession continued to weigh on sentiment,” said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar in London.

Sharp interest rate cuts from four central banks in Europe, including the European Central Bank and Bank of England, aimed at stimulating economic growth failed to improve sentiment, dealers said.

In the US on Thursday, telecommunications giant AT&T and other major US companies unleashed a new wave of layoffs amid a deepening recession that saw government unemployment aid swell to a 26-year high.

AT&T said it was cutting 12,000 jobs, or some four per cent of its workforce, beginning this month and through the end of 2009, and slashing 2009 capital spending due to the economic downturn.

Chemical giant Dupont and media company Viacom also announced job cuts and a Labour Department weekly report put unemployment insurance claims at a 26-year high, an ominous figure ahead of a key November non-farm payrolls and unemployment report due on Friday.

As recession sweeps through the world’s richest nations, demand for energy is tailing off, causing crude oil prices to tumble. On Thursday, EU data confirmed that the economy of the 15 nations sharing the euro entered its first official recession in the third quarter.—AFP