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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Crude oil at four-year low after Saudi Arabia price cut | Crude oil at four-year low after Saudi Arabia price cut |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Crude oil prices have hit a four-year low after Saudi Arabia unexpectedly cut the price of oil sold to the US. | Crude oil prices have hit a four-year low after Saudi Arabia unexpectedly cut the price of oil sold to the US. |
| Brent crude fell to near $82 (£51.24) a barrel as worries about global growth also spooked investors. | |
| Earlier, the European Commission reduced its growth forecasts for the eurozone. | Earlier, the European Commission reduced its growth forecasts for the eurozone. |
| Investors are concerned about the US oil industry in the face of slowing growth and lower prices. | Investors are concerned about the US oil industry in the face of slowing growth and lower prices. |
| Some worry that low oil prices could hurt domestic US producers dependent on high prices for profitability. | Some worry that low oil prices could hurt domestic US producers dependent on high prices for profitability. |
| The price cut also sent shares in many energy firms lower, pushing down all three US share indexes. | The price cut also sent shares in many energy firms lower, pushing down all three US share indexes. |
| Trade help | |
| Surging revenues from the US oil boom have led to calls on the government to remove regulations restricting the sale of US crude oil abroad. | |
| In the interim, the growth in domestic oil production has helped the US trade deficit, as the US has become less dependent on importing foreign oil. | |
| Separately on Tuesday, the Commerce Department's latest release showed that the US trade deficit unexpectedly widened in September as exports hit a five-month low, mostly due to economic weakness in Europe. | |
| The Commerce Department said the trade gap increased by 7.6% to $43.03bn, as China and eurozone orders decrease and the strength of the US dollar hurt exports. |