Crude oil fell to the lowest in a year and a half as mild weather in the eastern U.S. curbed heating- fuel consumption, causing stockpiles to increase.

Temperatures in New York will rise to 48 degrees Fahrenheit (9 Celsius) today, 10 degrees above the normal high, the National Weather Service said. The city had its third-warmest December on record. OPEC will speed up a 500,000 barrel-a-day output cut by almost a month to stop the fall in oil prices, Qatar's oil minister said.

``It's hard to be worried about heating-oil supplies when we've seen 60-degree weather this January,'' said Rick Mueller, an analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. ``Refiners are shifting to gasoline production, which should leave us with ample supplies when demand picks up. Demand for crude oil should fall as the product stockpiles grow.''

Crude oil for February delivery fell $1.37, or 2.4 percent, to $54.72 a barrel at 10:21 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $53.88, the lowest since June 13, 2005, prior to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed oil platforms and refineries along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast. Prices are down 10 percent this year and 14 percent from a year ago.