Oil falls for fifth day in a row

Crude oil fell for a fifth day to the lowest in almost four years after a report showed US fuel demand extended declines because of the country's deepening economic slump.

The average amount of fuel products such as gasoline and diesel supplied by refiners for the past four weeks was 7.9 percent less than a year earlier, according to a US Energy Department report on Wednesday. The US Labor Department will probably say today that payrolls fell the most since the 2001 terrorist attacks last month.

"The macroeconomic picture is bleak," Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group, said in a radio interview from Vienna. "There's no reason why crude oil can't go below $40 in the next six months."