By Santosh Menon
U.S. crude for March delivery fell 62 cents to $86.52 a barrel by 9:33 a.m. EST, on top of a $2.88 drop in the last two sessions. London Brent crude fell 77 cents to $87.301
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after a government report showed a surprisingly big build in U.S. petroleum stockpiles, pointing to weaker demand ahead.
"Instead, it seems that problems are getting worse...We would not be surprised to see a much sharper break in crude oil prices over the next few weeks," said Edward Meir at MF Global.
Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday it was halting 130,000 barrels per day of Nigerian output because of pipeline leaks. This came a day after Total announced it had shut around 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent in output from its North sea oilfields.
In addition to the souring economic outlook, fuel demand has been curbed this winter by milder than usual weather in the U.S. Northeast, normally a big consumer of heating oil.
A Reuters poll showed world oil demand growth losing momentum in 2008 as high prices and a slowdown in the world's industrialized nations led by the United States hit consumption.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Leff; Editing by William Hardy)
