U.S. President Barack Obama's re- election lifted the price of the "black gold" in east and west only for a day, whilst selling pressure returned Thursday as investors' focus shifted to the American "fiscal cliff."

A day after Obama was re-elected, the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) Oman Crude Oil futures contract rebounded Wednesday from a three-month low, but Thursday trading saw the benchmark price plummeting by 3.24 percent to 104.72 U.S. dollars per barrel. U.S. crude prices (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) which climbed above 88 dollars per barrel on the post-election day dived Thursday by 4.38 percent to 85.31 dollars per barrel.

The sharp decline in oil prices was triggered by a sell-off at U.S. stock markets in New York, as the focus shifted on the " fiscal cliff" in the world's largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Index, which measures the performance of 30 U.S. blue chips, dived Wednesday 2.36 percent and closed at a three-month low at 13,000 points.

The fiscal cliff are automatic spending cuts and tax increases by the government which will come into effect in January 2013, and can be avoided only if the Democrat U.S. president and congress agree to reduce the budget deficit. However, the oppositional Republicans won the majority of the House of Representatives, the U.S. upper house, Tuesday. Endi

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