Oil prices fell to near $97 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, extending a two-week fall amid investor concern slowing U.S. economic growth could undermine demand for crude.
Benchmark crude for June delivery was down 27 cents to $97.10 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.28 to settle at $97.37 on Monday.
In London, Brent crude for June delivery was down 26 cents to $110.58 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
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Crude has fallen about 16 percent from near $115 on May 2 as traders fret high fuel costs and tepid economic growth will hurt U.S. consumption. Crude surged 35 percent between February and the beginning of this month.
On Monday, traders shrugged off a weaker dollar, which makes crude cheaper for investors with other currencies and usually helps push oil prices higher.
Analysts are also eyeing the end next month of a Federal Reserve program to purchase treasury bonds, known as quantitative easing. It has helped boost money supply and asset prices while also weakening the dollar.
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“The end of quantitative easing is the sea-change beneath the broader moves,” Cameron Hanover said in a report.
In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil fell 0.5 cent to $2.87 a gallon and gasoline dropped 1.4 cents to $2.92 a gallon. Natural gas futures slid 3 cents to $4.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.