LONDON, Dec 12: Oil prices fell sharply on Friday in line with global stock markets, giving up most of the gains made the previous day when Russia suggested it would join Opec in cutting crude production.

Light sweet crude for delivery in January dropped $3.47 to $44.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for January slid $2.90 to $44.49. Oil prices had soared 10 per cent on Thursday.

“Crude futures tracked equity markets lower” on Friday, said Nimit Khamar, analyst at Sucden brokers.

“Risk aversion set in after the auto industry bailout hit a snag.” A plan worth billions to rescue ailing US automakers collapsed in the US Senate overnight, raising the prospect of imminent bankruptcy for General Motors and Chrysler with millions of jobs at stake.

The news weighed heavily on global stock markets on Friday, in turn depressing commodity prices. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is meanwhile widely expected to announce a cut in production at a meeting next Wednesday in a bid to bolster prices that have plunged from record highs above $147 in July.—AFP