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Oil prices dropped a dollar on Saturday, extending a sell-off from last week's US$100-a-barrel record to almost 8 per cent as dealers weighed the threat of a recession.
US crude settled down US$1.02 to US$92.69 a barrel, adding to the previous day's US$1.96 decline. London Brent crude settled US$1.15 lower at US$91.07 a barrel.
Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said on Friday the chance of a US recession was more than 50 per cent.
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was ready to take substantial measures to shore up the economy, raising expectations for a half-point interest rate cut at the Fed's meeting on January 29-30.
Another rate cut could stem crude's fall by fuelling selling of the already weak US dollar and adding liquidity to the economy to protect growth.
Despite recent losses, oil has been trading above US$90 for a month and hit a record of US$100.09 a barrel on January 3.
- REUTERS
