Investing.com - The rout in oil prices continued on Tuesday as weak Chinese factory data and lackluster euro zone private sector surveys added to concerns over the demand outlook.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for delivery in January dropped 2.56% to $54.81 a barrel, the weakest level since May 2009.
Benchmark Brent crude fell below $60 dollars a barrel for the first time since May 2009, plunging 3.02% to $59.37.
Oil came under renewed selling pressure after data overnight showing that factory activity in China contracted for the first time in seven months in December.
The preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 49.5, down from a final reading of 50.0 in November and below forecasts of 49.9.
In the euro zone, surveys showed that private sector activity grew at a slightly faster rate in December, but the rate of expansion was still one of the weakest seen over the past year.
Germany’s private sector expanded at the slowest rate in 18 months while French private sector activity remained in contraction territory.
The weak data added to concerns over already sluggish demand for oil, while a combination of ample supply and weakening emerging market economies and their currencies also weighed.
The Russian ruble fell to fresh record lows against the dollar on Tuesday, after a surprise interest rate hike overnight failed to ease selling pressure on the currency.
Last Friday the International Energy Agency cut its global oil demand forecast for next year by 230,000 barrels a day to 900,000 barrels, following similar cuts by OPEC and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
London-traded Brent prices have fallen nearly 47% since June, when it climbed near $116, while WTI futures are down almost 46% from a recent peak of $107.50 in June.