Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell for a third day on speculation that slower global economic growth may curb fuel consumption.

U.S. fuel stockpiles surged last week, with gasoline inventories rising six times more than analysts forecast to post their biggest gain this year, a report yesterday showed. OPEC members didn't raise production targets, citing ``comfortable'' global stockpiles and risks to consumption from an economic slowdown caused by the credit crisis.

``It's unsurprising prices are down when yesterday's data showed demand for products is not there,'' said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. ``OPEC's decision indicates they're afraid of recession.''

Crude oil for January delivery dropped as much as $1.13, or 1.3 percent, to $86.36 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $86.72 at 9:38 a.m. in London.

The contract yesterday fell 83 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $87.49, the lowest close since Oct. 24. Oil has fallen 13 percent since reaching a record $99.29 a barrel on Nov. 21.

``People are getting worried about the demand side of the equation,'' said Jan Stuart, oil economist at UBS AG in New York. ``Product inventories are building a little bit quick for this time of year and then of course the big economy around you has all sorts of people legitimately quite pessimistic.''

OPEC, supplier of more than 40 percent of the world's oil, will meet again Feb. 1, a month earlier than usual, to review output levels.

Brent Oil

Brent crude oil for January settlement fell as much as 91 cents, or 1 percent, to $87.58 a barrel in after-hours trading on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract traded at $87.90 a barrel at 9:38 a.m. in London.

Prices extended their decline even as yesterday's report from the Department of Energy showed a plunge in crude oil inventories in the U.S., the world's biggest consumer.

Crude stockpiles fell 7.91 million barrels, the biggest drop since September 2004, while imports declined by almost a million barrels a day from the week before as fog slowed shipping and refiners trimmed stockpiles for tax purposes. A 1.25 million-barrel decline was expected, based on the median estimate from a Bloomberg News survey of 14 analysts.

``It's all import-based,'' said Jonathan Benjamin, senior analyst at New Wave Energy LLC in California. ``The fundamentals are relatively weak. In terms of gasoline, days of forward supply are creeping back up again and production has picked up.''

Gulf Coast

The decline in crude-oil inventories left U.S. stockpiles at 305.2 million barrels, the lowest since March 2005, and 0.7 percent higher than the five-year average for the period. Inventories on the Gulf of Mexico coast accounted for three- quarters of the decline.

U.S. refineries usually cut oil inventories at this time of the year to reduce tax bills. Some states tax refineries on the amount of crude oil in storage at year's end.

Inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, unexpectedly rose 1.43 million barrels to 132.3 million. Stockpiles were expected to drop 300,000 barrels, according to the median estimate from the survey. Gasoline inventories jumped 3.99 million barrels.

To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 6, 2007 04:41 EST