By Steve Goldstein & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures tumbled below $80 a barrel to a one-year low Friday as stock markets worldwide got routed, putting pressure on the energy complex amid fears about flagging demand. Crude oil for November delivery fell $7.77 to $78.86 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, crude hit an intraday low of $78.61, its lowest level since early October 2007. Other energy future also fell sharply, with reformulated gasoline plunging 9%. Stock markets around the world tumbled on renewed concerns about the seized-up money markets at a time of faltering economic growth. See Indications. "Crude prices continued to tumble as fear over the uncertain outlook for energy demand continues to be the dominating factor," said Nimit Khamar, an analyst at Sucden Research, in a note. "Markets are very much trading on fear, which has overwhelmed fundamentals." On Thursday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced it would hold an emergency meeting in November to discuss the global financial crisis, the world economic situation and the impacts on the oil market. OPEC said in a statement that it's "concerned about the deteriorating economic conditions with contagion risks." OPEC's announcement, however, didn't do much to curb selling. Crude futures fell $2.36, or 2.7%, to close $86.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. IEA cuts demand forecast The International Energy Agency on Friday cut its estimates for global oil demand, revising lower its 2008 daily forecast by 240,000 barrels of oil to 86.5 million barrels. For 2009, the IEA lowered its demand estimate to 87.2 million barrels a day, down 440,000 barrels a day from its previous projection. "Weak baseline summer demand in the main OECD consuming countries in the face of higher prices is now being perpetuated by weakening economic prospects and, most recently, by a spiraling liquidity crisis, which risks tipping OECD economies into outright recession," the IEA said in its monthly report. But it also noted the current financial storm has an impact on the supply side, because credit shortages are another in a "long line of impediments to industry investment." Also on the Globex Friday, November reformulated gasoline fell 18 cents, or 9%, to $1.84 a gallon and November heating oil dropped 20 cents, or 8%, to $2.22 a gallon. November natural gas futures fell 25 cents to $6.57 per million British thermal units. Elsewhere on the commodity markets, a flight to safety amid growing duress in the global financial system sent gold futures surging Friday, while concerns about economic prospects around the world crushed copper futures. Gold futures climbed $33 to stand at $919.50 an ounce, more than offsetting a $20-an-ounce retreat on Thursday.

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