Oil near $83 after fall to 12-month low

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil was near $83 a barrel after a fall to its lowest in 12 months on Friday, depressed by expectations global demand growth will shrink if the credit crisis pushes the world economy into recession.

Economic weakness spurred the International Energy Agency (IEA) to cut its forecasts for world oil demand growth for 2008 to its lowest rate since 1993.

U.S. light crude for November delivery was $3.59 down at $83.00 a barrel by 12:33 p.m.. It touched a session low of $81.13, its lowest since October 2007.

Prices have dropped nearly 45 percent from a peak of $147.27 in July.

London Brent crude was down $3.47 a barrel at $79.19, below $80 for the first time in a year.

The IEA, which advises 28 industrialised nations, cut its world demand growth forecast for 2008 to 0.5 percent -- the lowest in percentage terms since 1993.

The agency said the impact of global economic weakness was most acute in developed countries, while developing countries were showing "a degree of resilience."

OPEC TO MEET

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has called an emergency meeting in Vienna on November 18 to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis on the oil market.