LONDON, Nov 17: The price of crude oil in New York sank on Friday beneath $55 per barrel, striking a level last seen in June 2005 amid concerns over the full implementation of a recent cut in Opec oil output.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, plunged 54.86 dollars per barrel in electronic trade.

That marked the lowest point since June 14, 2005 before Hurricane Katrina had devastated US Gulf Coast energy facilities and sent crude futures to then-record levels. The contract later stood at $55.50 in pit trading, marking a fall of 76 cents.

New York oil had plummeted $2.50 on Thursday as traders reviewed conflicting reports on exports from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Analysts added that New York prices were lower owing to the contract’s expiry later Friday.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery fell one cent to $58.53 per barrel in electronic deals on Friday, after earlier touching a one-year low of $57.85.

Traders also focused on a combination of mild autumn weather, ample US winter fuel supplies and the collapse of a trading range that had been in place since the start of October.

“This is going to put pressure on Opec to perhaps make bigger cuts,” said BNP Paribas Commodity Futures broker Tom Bentz.

The 11-member Opec cartel decided last month to slash output by 1.2m bpd to 26.3m bpd from Nov 1, to put a floor under prices that have tumbled from above $78 in July and August this year.

However, according to an analysis by “Petrologistics”, Opec's exports have fallen 1.1 million bpd in November.

And a separate report by “Oil Movements” estimated that the cartel’s exports actually rose by 210,000 bpd starting November 4 and were likely to remain at such a level through to December 2.

“Further (price) weakness no doubt came from data from oil tanker tracker Petrologistics, which suggested that the cartel has carried out only some of their agreed output cuts,” added Sucden analyst Michael Davies.

—AFP