Oil prices fell to fresh six year low in New York trade yesterday despite a warning from OPEC that prices could surge to 200 US dollars owing to a shrinking investment in exploration. But prices were volatile in a market skittish about the election of a new leftist, anti-austerity government in Greece and a rocket attack on the Ukraine city of Mariupol blamed on pro-Russia rebels. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March delivery lost 44 cents at 45.15 US dollars a barrel compared with Friday's close. In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March slipped 63 cents to 48.16 US dollars a barrel. OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri warned that the pullback in oil exploration and production investment since prices fell by nearly 60 per cent since June could result in curtailed output several years in the future, forcing prices to 200 US dollars a barrel.