Oil prices posted their biggest one-day drop in nearly two years Tuesday as a U.S.-led wave of crude has crashed into weak global demand, threatening the stability of some countries and providing an economic lifeline to others.

Bank of America Corp. and BNP Paribas SA predict prices will hold above $80 a barrel. Commerzbank AG also sees that level as a possible low for Brent crude. They’re in part counting on OPEC cutting output -- some say as soon as next month -- to compensate for recent declines in demand.

Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom said second-quarter profit rose 13% on higher sales and prices which offset provisions for non-payment by Ukraine’s Naftogaz.

OPEC is resisting pressure to cut oil production while demand slumps as it tests how low prices must go to make U.S. shale oil unprofitable. As producers become more efficient, that floor is sinking.

Saudi Arabia effectively started a global oil price war this month aimed at quickly denting U.S. oil output. Slowing a U.S. drilling boom, however, could take more than a year.

The IEA Oil Market Report (OMR) for October reduced its forecast of global oil demand for 2014 by 0.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) from the previous month, to 92.4 mb/d, on lower expectations of economic growth and the weak recent trend. Annual demand growth for 2014 is now projected at 0.7 mb/d, rising tentatively to 1.1 mb/d in 2015 as the macroeconomic backdrop improves.

Two of OPEC’s biggest members say they won’t immediately reduce oil production to offset tumbling prices, a signal the group is unlikely to heed Venezuelan calls for an emergency meeting.

Increasing access to modern forms of energy is crucial to unlocking faster economic and social development in sub‑Saharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Africa Energy Outlook, a Special Report in the 2014 World Energy Outlook series.

The OPEC Reference Basket fell $4.77 to stand at $95.98/b in September, as sluggish demand and ample supply continue to weight on the oil market.

The continuing slump in global oil prices is punching holes in the budgets of oil-producing countries, including some OPEC members such as Iraq and Libya that are struggling with severe political and security problems.

With the rouble down 18 percent against the dollar this year and sanctions chipping away at economic ties with the West, ordinary Russians might be forgiven for rushing to put their money in a nice, "safe" foreign currency.

Crude oil prices stabilised Friday after dropping significantly this week.

The share-price boom at U.S. energy firms has gone bust, due to slumping global growth and tumbling crude prices.

This year's fall in energy prices is hastening the decline of big oil, as the seven Western majors sell-off assets, cut investment, return money to shareholders and shrink in size, leaving ever more output to small producers and state firms.

West Texas Intermediate extended its slump into a bear market amid speculation that rising global oil supplies will be more than enough to meet slowing demand. London’s Brent traded at the lowest price since December 2010.