Oil headed for a seventh weekly decline in New York and London amid speculation that OPEC won't pare output to reduce a global surplus.

West Texas Intermediate slipped as much as 2.8 percent today while Brent fell 3.4 percent. The United Arab Emirates has no plans to reduce output no matter how low prices drop, according to Yousef Al Otaiba, the nation's ambassador to the U.S. Representatives from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the U.A.E. stressed a dozen times in the past six weeks that OPEC won't curb output to halt the rout. WTI's discount to Brent shrank to its narrowest since October.

"The price war continues and there's a great deal of excess supply," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago, said by phone. "The statements from the U.A.E. ambassador show that they're doubling down and taking no prisoners. This will be a long fought war and they have the Saudis behind them."

Oil is trading near the lowest levels since April 2009 amid concern that a global supply surplus estimated by Qatar at 2 million barrels a day will persist this year. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is battling a U.S. shale boom by resisting production cuts, signaling it's prepared to let futures fall to a level that slows the American output.

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery slipped $1.22, or 2.5 percent, to $47.57 a barrel at 11:06 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 17 percent above the 100-day average for the time of day. The contract touched $46.83 on Jan. 7, the lowest intraday price since April 21, 2009. Futures are down 9.8 percent this week.

Brent for February settlement decreased $1.45, or 2.9 percent, to $49.51 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume for all futures traded was 56 percent above the 100-day average. The North Sea oil is down 12 percent this week. The European benchmark crude traded at a $1.92 premium to WTI.

Gold prices rose after a report on the US labor market. The number of people employed in non-agricultural sector grew steadily at the end of last month, topping with the experts' forecasts, which indicates the continuing improvement in the US labor market. This was reported in the Ministry of Labour.

According to the data, the seasonally adjusted number of people employed in the non-agricultural sector increased in December by 252 thousand. Man. The main increase was recorded in professional and business services, construction, food service networks, health care and industrial sectors. We also add that the figures for October and November were revised upward - just 50 thousand. Jobs (growth in November to 353 thousand. 321 thousand., And in October - up to 261 thousand. 243 thousand.)

The unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in December, down two-tenths of a percentage point compared with the previous month. The last value is the lowest since June 2008. However, this change was associated with a decrease in the proportion of the labor force.

Economists had expected the number of people employed increased by 241,000 in December, and the unemployment rate drops to 5.7 percent.

Gold prices were supported by expectations of growing over whether the European Central Bank can start an active incentive program after meeting on 22 January, analysts said. This decision may have inflationary effects that enhance the attractiveness of safe-haven, such as gold.

The attractiveness of gold as a safe-haven weakened in recent months, as the US economic recovery is gaining momentum, and the rise in interest rates is more likely. However, gold futures rose this year amid concerns over a slowdown in global economic growth and revive concerns about financial stability in Greece.

The cost of the February gold futures on the COMEX today rose to 1221.0 dollars per ounce.