Oil Falls as Asian Import Cuts Heighten Demand Slowdown Concern

By Grant Smith

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell, giving up earlier gains, as reduced imports by Asian refiners reinforced concerns that a demand slowdown is spreading to emerging markets.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's biggest oil refiner, will process less crude at some plants because of falling fuel demand, its parent said today. South Korea imported 1.4 percent less crude oil in October as the global credit crisis sent shockwaves through Asia's fourth-biggest economy.

``Demand growth in the emerging markets seems to be slowing down massively,'' said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. ``The outlook is disturbingly weak and alarming for commodity traders and investors.''

Crude oil for December delivery dropped as much as $1.27, or 1.9 percent, to $66.54 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $67.13 a barrel at 9:04 a.m. London time. It earlier gained as much as 2 percent to $69.19.

To contact the reporters on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net