Front-month January ICE Brent crude futures fell below the $60/barrel mark for the first time in five-and-a-half years to $59.93/b at 3:42 pm in Singapore (0742 GMT) Tuesday, December 16, as investors continued to engage in sell-offs after data revealed a contraction in China’s manufacturing sector. At $59.93/b, the price represents a $1.13/b (1.85%) day-on-day fall from Monday’s settlement of $61.06/b. The January ICE Brent contract will expire later in the day. The last time front-month ICE Brent crude was any lower was on July 13, 2009, when the contract traded at an intra-day low of $59.49/b. Article continues below… Platts Global Alert is a complete real-time information service for the global energy industry, providing breaking reports of deals done, price indicators for crude and products and more than 200 end-of-day assessments. Analysts said the declines were a response to HSBC announcing that its […]