Oil prices dropped on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling close to 50 dollars a barrel, as weak energy demand and the global credit crunch pressured the market.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for December delivery slipped 77 cents to close at 53.62 dollars a barrel. In pre-market trade the contract fell to 53.30 dollars, the lowest point since January 2007.

In London, North Sea crude for delivery in January fell 12 cents to settle at 51.72 dollars a barrel on InterContinental Exchange. It had hit an intraday low of 50.61, the lowest level in three and a half years.

After drifting trade, prices headed lower at the close, ending in the red for the fourth consecutive session.

`While energy prices are increasingly enticing and an increasing number of production expansion projects are being tabled, the pressure outside the basic fundamentals persists in enabling further declines,` said John Kilduff, analyst at MF Global.

`Medium term, we feel it will be difficult for crude oil to maintain the 50-dollar level,` he said.

Crude oil prices have plunged almost two-thirds since striking record highs above 147 dollars in July as a global economic slowdown curbs energy demand.

Bearish sentiment was also supported by the latest weekly US Department of Energy (DoE) report on energy stockpiles, which showed a sharp drop in demand in the world`s biggest energy consumer.

Over the past four weeks, the average consumption of petroleum products fell 7.0 percent from a year ago. Aviation fuel consumption plunged more than 20 percent.

Even an unexpected decline in distillates stockpiles, including heating oil which is closely watched in advance of the northern hemisphere winter, did not support prices.

Crude futures should drop further to 43 or 44 dollars a barrel before rebounding along with the global economy next year, CFC Seymour Securities said in a report published on Wednesday.

`We believe prices will be in decline until evidence emerges that the US is on track to end its recession,` CFC Seymour said in Hong Kong.

The London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) on Tuesday forecast a contraction in global demand for the first time in 25 years amid a severe global economic slowdown.

On Monday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose members produce 40 percent of the world`s oil, said it was ready to intervene on a regular basis to help prop up prices.