Forexpros – Crude oil futures were down for a fourth day on Monday, dropping to a seven-week low as lingering concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone and a firm U.S. dollar reduced the appeal of commodities.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at USD78.34 a barrel during European morning trade, tumbling 1.88%.
It earlier fell as much as 2.95% to trade at USD77.14 a barrel, the lowest price since August 9.
Weekend meetings of leaders from the G-20 nations and the International Monetary Fund resulted in no fresh steps to tackle the debt crisis in the single currency bloc.
Meanwhile, German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen said on Sunday that a decision on the next tranche of bailout funds to Greece may take longer than previously expected, adding to investors nervousness over the region’s ongoing debt crisis.
Qatar’s oil minister Mohammed Saleh al-Sada said over the weekend that the euro zone debt crisis and general fears about the global economy have weakened demand for crude.
Speaking at an industry event in Doha on Sunday, al-Sada said, “We are watching closely developments on supply and demand. It is evident that the emphasis is now on the financial issues in some European countries.”
A firm U.S. dollar also weighed on crude prices, as the greenback rose to an eight-month high against the euro, while the dollar index was up 0.3% to trade at 79.17, the highest since January 18.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for November delivery slumped 0.81% to trade at USD102.97 a barrel, up USD24.63 a barrel on its U.S. counterpart.
Despite the recent pullback in prices, Wall Street lender JP Morgan maintained its Brent forecast of USD115 a barrel for 2012, citing the prospect of supply curbs by OPEC producers to prop up prices.
“As long as producers are prepared to trim output back to mid-2010 levels, we believe that Brent is likely to remain in a USD100 to USD120 per barrel range,” the bank said in a report on Friday.
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