Oil prices fall below 58 dollars

Oil prices fell below 58 dollars on Thursday amid fear of slow economic growth in U.S..

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, fell 83 cents to close at 57.88 dollars a barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December dropped 1.11 dollars to settle at 57.87 dollars a barrel.

The Labor Department estimated on Thursday that productivity growth of U.S. nonfarm businesses fell to 0 percent in the third quarter. The weaker-than-expected data raised concerns over economic growth. As the largest oil consumer in the world, low economic growth of U.S. means less import of energy.

In the week ended Oct. 27, inventories of crude oil rose 2.0 million barrels to 334.3 million, the Energy Department reported Wednesday in its weekly survey.

Crude futures have fallen more than 25 percent from its record 78.40 dollars per barrel in mid-July, as demand was downgraded and supply worries eased.

Source: Xinhua