Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 5.15 dollars to settle at 49.28 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which is the lowest settlement price since May 23, 2005. Price fell to as low as 49.05 dollars a barrel during the session.

    Oil prices rose last week on speculation that OPEC would trim output on the unofficial meeting in Cairo last Saturday. But OPEC decided to defer it until its next meeting on December 17. The cartel said it will use the time to observe the impact of its 1.5-million barrel reduction in October.

    Oil prices have tumbled 65 percent from the record high of 147.27 dollars a barrel reached in mid-July. Many OPEC members including Iran, Venezuela and Algeria have been calling for further production cut to stable the price.

    Meanwhile, recession concern remains despite the price drop. The U.S. economy entered a recession in December 2007, according to a statement by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, the panel which observe U.S. business cycles and decide when is the start of a recession.

    In London, Brent crude for January delivery fell 5.24 dollars to 48.25 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.