Oil prices slide under 45 dollars per barrel

Oil prices tumbled under 45 dollars on Wednesday to reach their lowest level since February 2005 after more weak US economic data sparked concern about slowing global energy demand.

In afternoon deals on London's InterContinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January fell to 44.87 dollars.

New York light sweet crude for January dived to 46.42 dollars -- its lowest level since February 2005.

Wall Street fell sharply at the open on Wednesday after a weak private employment report stoked concerns about this week's official November jobs data and a darkening economic outlook.

The US private sector lost 250,000 jobs in November, the largest decline in six years, in a further indication of a weakening labor market, according to the ADP National Employment Report.

On Monday, it emerged that the United States -- the world's biggest energy consumer -- has been in a recession for nearly a year.

Oil prices have plunged some 70 percent since striking record highs above 147 dollar in July as the global economic slowdown weighs on demand.

The market began the week sharply lower after OPEC decided at a weekend meeting against cutting production, preferring to wait until December before reducing exports.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps 40 percent of the world's crude, met in Cairo on Saturday to assess the state of the oil market but held off from making any decision on cutting production.

Traders were meanwhile gearing up for the latest weekly snapshot of energy inventories in the United States. The report is due for publication at about 1535 GMT.