Fears of a deepening recession in global economies destroying demand for crude oil drove down prices of the commodity to below $34 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest in over four years. Crude oil prices have ignored a record 2.5 million barrels per day cut in production by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which supplies 40 per cent of the world’s oil, a Mumbai-based analyst said. Prices have fallen by over 22 per cent since the group announced its decision to cut production on Wednesday. Lower oil prices pushed down the share prices of India’s crude oil producers on the Bombay Stock Exchange as they will now have to sell their oil at lower rates. The share price of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation fell 3.23 per cent while that of Cairn India fell 4.26 per cent. Crude oil refining companies, which buy oil, saw their share prices rise. Indian Oil Corporation, India’s largest refiner, rose 3.90 per cent on the Bombay stock Exchange. Bharat Petroleum Corporation rose 4.49 per cent and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation rose 1.86 per cent. The benchmark Sensex traded flat on Friday.

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