LONDON, Dec 24: World oil prices tumbled on Wednesday to strike a four-year low point in London in volatile pre-Christmas trade as economic gloom weighed on the market, analysts said.

On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery fell as low as 37.49 dollars per barrel -- the lowest level since December 13, 2004.

Brent crude later stood at 38.79 dollars a barrel, down 1.57 dollars from the close on Tuesday.

Light sweet crude for delivery in February shed 1.34 dollars to 37.64 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

“Economic concerns continued to be the focus with expectations of further weakness in demand pushing prices lower,” said analysts at the John Hall Associates energy consultancy.

New York crude for January had plunged last Friday to 32.40 dollars -- lowest reading since February 9, 2004 -- as investors raced to sell before the contract’s expiry.

The price of crude oil has now collapsed by as much as 78 per cent since hitting record highs above $147 per barrel in July, as a sharp global downturn has slashed the world’s demand for energy.

Prices clawed back some ground on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) said American crude stockpiles fell sharply last week -- suggesting solid demand in the world’s biggest energy consumer.

US crude inventories sank 3.1 million barrels in the week ending December 19, which was far heavier than market expectations.

However, the DoE added that crude reserves were 9.1 per cent higher than at the same stage last year.

Analysts said that recent US data showing that the world’s biggest economy remains mired in a recession was likely to keep crude oil prices under pressure in the immediate term.

Official data released on Tuesday confirmed the American economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of this year.

The contraction was seen as marking the start of a steep downturn for the United States after it posted gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2.8 per cent in the second quarter.

“It is just more of the same on the economic front,” said Jason Feer, Singapore-based vice president with energy market analysts Argus Media.—AFP