Singapore: Oil prices slipped nearly $1 a barrel on Monday as traders worried that the flagging US economy would cause oil demand to soften.
Oil's sharp decline started last week. Crude futures started plunging after the US Federal Reserve-backed sale of Bear Stearns Cos. to JPMorgan Chase & Co. created fears of deeper economic problems.
Prices dropped around 10 percent during the shortened trading week from a trading record of $111.80 hit last Monday.
"The collapse of Bear Stearns has caused investors to focus more on how a recession in the US would cut oil demand," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "Today we're seeing some pullback and some profit taking too."
Light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped 84 cents to $101 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.
The contract on Thursday fell 70 cents to settle at $101.84 a barrel. The market was closed for Good Friday.
Shum said oil's price swoon may not last for long.
