The apparent weakness was a wake-up call for oil prices, and their acceleration to below $80 making the $100 price tag questionable.
West Texas Intermediate crude, or WTI, traded in New York for November delivery, traded down by nearly 6 per cent to settle at $84.22 a barrel. Benchmark US crude oil prices earlier hit a one-month low of $84.17 and fell 7 per cent on the week.