Oil fell in New York, heading for the biggest weekly drop in almost two months, as investors speculated that fuel demand will falter on signs that risks to the global economy are rising. Crude slid as much as 0.6 percent after falling 6.3 percent yesterday. Finance chiefs from the Group of 20 meeting in Washington said they will address “heightened downside risks” from sovereign debt and weaker growth. Futures will probably extend losses next week on a slowdown in U.S. and China, according to a Bloomberg News survey. “Concerns on global growth are weighing on oil markets,” Michael McCarthy, a chief market strategist at CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd. in Sydney, said by telephone. “We haven’t seen any evidence yet of people getting aggressively into oil despite the fact it’s at the best price we’ve seen for some time.” Crude for November delivery fell as much as 48 cents to $80.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $80.05 at 1:56 p.m. Singapore time. The contract yesterday lost $5.41 to $80.51, the lowest settlement since Aug 9. Prices are down 9 percent this week and 12 percent so far in 2011. Brent oil for November settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange traded at $105.60 a barrel, up 11 cents. The European benchmark contract was at premium of $25.55 to U.S. futures, from a record close of $26.87 on Sept. 6. Goldman Forecast Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its three-month forecast for oil in New York by 15 percent to $97.50 a barrel. The bank’s previous target was $115, analysts led by Samantha Dart in London said in a report yesterday. “It’s all about a lack of confidence,” Jonathan Barratt, a managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, said by telephone today. “It’s going to get a little bit darker before the dawn.” Crude will decline through Sept. 30, according to 22 of 40 analysts and traders, or 55 percent, surveyed by Bloomberg News. Nine respondents, or 23 percent, predicted prices will increase and nine estimated there will be little change. Last week, 45 percent of 40 poll respondents projected a drop. Oil options volatility surged to the highest in six weeks. Implied volatility for at-the-money options expiring in November, a measure of expected price swings in futures and a gauge of options prices, was 51.4 percent at 2 p.m. in New York, the highest for the contract nearest to expiration since Aug. 10. Bollinger Band New York crude earlier rebounded as much as $1.30, or 1.6 percent, to $81.81 a barrel. Futures yesterday settled below the lower Bollinger Band on the daily technical chart for the first time in more than six weeks, signaling the market may have fallen too far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This indicator is at $81.44 a barrel today. “After such a big move often there are shorts that are looking to take a profit,” McCarthy at CMC Markets Asia Pacific said. Shorting crude involves selling futures contracts in the expectation they will decline in value. Traders book a profit when they buy at a lower price to offset the open position. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries yesterday said it will decide whether to cut supply after monitoring the global economy over the next two months and the pace of Libya’s production recovery. OPEC’s 12 members pump about 40 percent of the world’s crude. Saudi Arabia will probably maintain current output as long as economic troubles in Europe and the U.S. don’t spread to emerging nations where consumption grows faster, said an OPEC official, who asked not to be identified as he isn’t authorized to speak publicly. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in Singapore at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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