NEW YORK, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Crude oil continued to fall on Tuesday after the U.S. Energy Department lowered its forecast for global oil demand for this year.

    Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 64 cents to settle at 49.41 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) lowered its forecast for this year's world oil demand on Tuesday to 84.09 million barrels per day, 180,000 barrels per day less from its prior March estimate. EIA also cut its 2009 forecast of U.S. oil demand by 10,000 barrels per day to 18.99 million barrels per day.

    EIA's report added to the pressure on the crude futures, which retreated on Monday after the International Energy Agency slashed another 1 million barrels per day in its latest world oil demand forecast.

    Meanwhile, negative economic reports also weighed on oil market. The U.S. Labor Department reported on Tuesday that the Producer Price Index fell by 1.2 percent in March. Another report from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales fell by 1.1 percent in March, much weaker than the 0.3 percent rise that analysts expected.

    In London, Brent crude for May delivery fell 41 cents to 51.73 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.