Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell as signs of slowing growth in the U.S. economy dented investor confidence that prices will reach $100 a barrel.

Rising fuel costs may have slowed retail spending growth in the U.S., the world's largest oil user, to a four-month low in October, according to a Bloomberg survey. Oil imports in China, where fuel taxes will be introduced this year, fell last month to their lowest since February.

``Demand in the U.S. is slower than last year, and that's before the latest prices have transferred to retail prices,'' said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. ``We will see some profit-taking this week.''

Crude oil for December delivery declined as much as $1.67, or 1.7 percent, to $94.86 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $95.06 at 1:34 p.m. in London.

Oil reached a record $98.62 a barrel last week as the sliding U.S. dollar attracted investors to commodities and after a report showed U.S. stockpiles fell for a third week.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the producer of more than 40 percent of the world's oil, has no plan to discuss raising production targets at its heads of state summit in Riyadh on Nov. 17-18, Iran's OPEC governor and a Persian Gulf oil official said.

The group will only review production quotas as its next ministerial-level meeting on Dec. 5 in Abu Dhabi, Iran's Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

Brent Crude

``Whether we get to $100 is all psychology,'' said Stephen Schork, principal of the trading firm The Shork Group Inc. in Pennsylvania. ``There's nothing fundamental that changed between September and November to get us to $95.''

Brent crude oil for December settlement fell as much as $1.41, or 1.5 percent, to $91.77 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract traded at $92.38 at 1:34 p.m. local time.

Brent rebounded earlier today after Reuters reported militants attacked an oil terminal in Nigeria before prices fell back again.

OPEC, which produces about 40 percent of global supply, scheduled a 500,000 barrel-a-day output increase from Nov. 1 to check the surge in prices.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and Kuwait's acting oil minister said that OPEC may discuss an output boost, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.

Minister Naimi of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, told reporters during a visit to Kuwait ``it is premature'' to speak of an increase in output and that ``when OPEC meets, we will discuss this issue,'' according to AFP.

OPEC Responsibilities

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will ``not hesitate to shoulder its responsibilities,'' AFP cited Kuwait's acting Oil Minister Mohammed al-Aleem as saying.

Hedge fund managers and other large speculators raised their bets on rising prices to a three-month high last week, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Their net-long position, the difference between orders to buy and sell oil, rose 27 percent to 22,696 contracts on Nov. 6, the commission said. As of Nov. 9, investors held 41,133 options to sell December oil, known as calls, for $100 a barrel, according to the Nymex Web site. The options expire tomorrow.

``The fear of those $100 calls has kept short-sellers out of the market,'' said Petromatrix's Jakob. If oil fails to reach $100 before the options expire, investors may sell the futures contracts they bought as a hedging instrument, he said.

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

Last Updated: November 12, 2007 08:36 EST