Oil Falls to Five-Year Low $65.84 a Barrel

Oil fell almost $1 to a five-year low $65.84 a barrel Dec. 5, as Saudi Arabia offered its oil customers in Asia the biggest discount on record, signaling it will defend its market share.

Crude futures fell 97 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have plunged more than $40 since June and $10 in the past two weeks.

Plunging oil prices have led to drops in diesel and gasoline pump prices, which were at or near four-year lows this week.

Oil slumped 18% late last month as OPEC members maintained their 30 million barrels per day output target, letting prices fall to a level that may slow U.S. production growth.

Globally traded Brent crude oil fell 57 cents to end the week at $69.07 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the lowest closing price since Oct. 7, 2009.

Bloomberg News contributed to this story.