Oil prices sank below $59 a barrel Tuesday amid doubts that OPEC will make a formal cut in production.
Analysts said the 1 million barrel a day cut sought by some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not appear to have the support of Saudi Arabia, the cartel's largest producer, and for that reason is unlikely to be implemented.
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"This has been a complete disaster" for OPEC, said Michael Guido, director of commodity strategy at Societe Generale in New York.
"The market is completely suspect of who's going to comply at these (price) levels," Guido said. For that reason, even a formally announced output cut of 1 million barrels a day might not have much impact on price, he added.
Some analysts are skeptical that OPEC members will be willing to produce less right now, given that prices are still twice as high as they were three years ago.
After falling as low as $58.85 a barrel, light sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at $59.10, a decline of 86 cents.
November Brent crude at London's ICE Futures fell 75 cents to $59.79 a barrel.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. government said winter heating bills are expected to be slightly lower for most families across the nation, with the highest reductions for those who use natural gas.
Families using natural gas should expect to pay an average of $119 less during the upcoming winter compared with last year, a decrease of 13 percent, the Energy Department said. Those heating their homes with fuel oil will pay $91 more, an increase of 6 percent, it said.
After peaking at $78.40 in mid-July, oil prices plummeted because of rising worldwide inventories and concerns about slower economic growth, as well as the mild Atlantic hurricane season.
Following the late-summer freefall of almost 25 percent, Nymex crude oil prices have bounced around the $60 level in the past week.
Kuwait's energy minister said Monday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering trimming its daily output by anywhere from 700,000 barrels to 1 million barrels.
OPEC is not scheduled to meet until December, though there is talk of a possible emergency meeting before then. The last time OPEC trimmed its output _ by 1 million barrels a day _ was December 2004 when oil traded slightly above $40 a barrel.
Still, the uncertainty has helped to discourage aggressive selling near-term.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 3.62 cents to $1.6935 a gallon while gasoline futures fell 1.59 cent to $1.479 a gallon. Natural gas futures increased a penny to $6.562 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Analysts said the 1 million barrel a day cut sought by some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not appear to have the support of Saudi Arabia, the cartel's largest producer, and for that reason is unlikely to be implemented.
Perform A Background Check On Anybody, Anywhere In The World
"This has been a complete disaster" for OPEC, said Michael Guido, director of commodity strategy at Societe Generale in New York.
"The market is completely suspect of who's going to comply at these (price) levels," Guido said. For that reason, even a formally announced output cut of 1 million barrels a day might not have much impact on price, he added.
Some analysts are skeptical that OPEC members will be willing to produce less right now, given that prices are still twice as high as they were three years ago.
After falling as low as $58.85 a barrel, light sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at $59.10, a decline of 86 cents.
November Brent crude at London's ICE Futures fell 75 cents to $59.79 a barrel.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. government said winter heating bills are expected to be slightly lower for most families across the nation, with the highest reductions for those who use natural gas.
Families using natural gas should expect to pay an average of $119 less during the upcoming winter compared with last year, a decrease of 13 percent, the Energy Department said. Those heating their homes with fuel oil will pay $91 more, an increase of 6 percent, it said.
After peaking at $78.40 in mid-July, oil prices plummeted because of rising worldwide inventories and concerns about slower economic growth, as well as the mild Atlantic hurricane season.
Following the late-summer freefall of almost 25 percent, Nymex crude oil prices have bounced around the $60 level in the past week.
Kuwait's energy minister said Monday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering trimming its daily output by anywhere from 700,000 barrels to 1 million barrels.
OPEC is not scheduled to meet until December, though there is talk of a possible emergency meeting before then. The last time OPEC trimmed its output _ by 1 million barrels a day _ was December 2004 when oil traded slightly above $40 a barrel.
Still, the uncertainty has helped to discourage aggressive selling near-term.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 3.62 cents to $1.6935 a gallon while gasoline futures fell 1.59 cent to $1.479 a gallon. Natural gas futures increased a penny to $6.562 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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