Increasingly grim global economic news and the prospects for even weaker demand for energy pulled world oil prices lower on Thursday, analysts said.

New York`s main futures contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, dropped 80 cents to 52.82 dollars a barrel, on top of a 77-cent drop Wednesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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.

Russia`s second largest oil group Lukoil is in advanced negotiations with Repsol YPF to buy 30 percent of the Spanish-Argentine company in a deal worth 9.0 billion euros, Spanish national radio said Wednesday.

Poland has rejected an EU proposal for its coal-fired power stations to be temporarily exempted from buying all their greenhouse gas permits, a move aimed at averting a Polish veto of the bloc`s climate package, a senior Polish official said Wednesday.

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling close to 50 dollars a barrel, as weak energy demand continued to plague the market, traders said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January was down seven cents at 51.77 dollars a barrel in late afternoon trade on London`s InterContinental Exchange (ICE). Earlier it touched 50.61 dollars.

The Comoros could tame the feared Karthala, one of the world`s largest active volcanoes, and use its geothermal and tourism potential to boost the archipelago`s economy, experts said Wednesday.

Speaking at the opening of a three-day conference on the slopes of the Karthala, officials and experts argued that the volcano could be a goldmine for the Indian Ocean nation.

Poland`s coal-fired power stations would be temporarily exempted from buying all their greenhouse gas permits under a deal aimed to stop Warsaw vetoing the EU`s environmental plans, a source said Wednesday.

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling close to 50 dollars a barrel, as demand for energy weakens worldwide and as the market awaits data on the health of US crude stockpiles.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January was down 82 cents at 51.02 dollars a barrel in morning trade on London`s InterContinental Exchange (ICE).

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling close to 50 dollars a barrel, as demand for energy weakens worldwide and as the market awaits data on the health of US crude stockpiles.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January was down 82 cents at 51.02 dollars a barrel in morning trade on London`s InterContinental Exchange (ICE).

World oil prices held steady on Wednesday at their lowest levels in about 22 months but analysts said they will drop even lower because of worries over falling energy demand.