US crude oil futures prices fell on Monday for a fourth straight session, slumping to a six-week low as a stronger dollar and tumbling gasoline futures kept pressure on crude oil. The same concerns pummelled oil prices last week - slowing economic growth, bulging US inventories and plenty of spare capacity held by producers and refiners.
US crude for October delivery fell 72 cents, or 0.98 percent, to settle at $73.10 a barrel, having traded from $72.75 to $74.48. That $72.75 intraday low was the lowest since prices fell to $71.44 on July 7. The October contract took over front-month position after Friday's expiration of the September contract. October Brent crude fell 64 cents to settle at $73.62.
"Crude was pressured by dollar's strength and follow-on downward momentum as the October crude contract picked up where the September contract left off," said Stephen Schork, president at the Schork Group in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Also weighing on the oil complex, gasoline futures slumped to a six-month low. US September RBOB gasoline futures fell 4.41 cents, or 2.29 percent, to settle at $1.8810 a gallon. The session low was $1.8777, the lowest since $1.8716 on February 12.
The US summer driving demand season is near the end, ahead of the "shoulder" season between summer and the winter heating fuel season. While the September crude contract expired on Friday, the September refined products contracts expire on August 31. Gasoline's premium or crack spread against crude oil hit a low of $4.07 a barrel, the lowest since slumping to $1.54 on November 16, 2009.
"The complex easily picked up where it left off last week by dropping down into 6-7-week lows with the front of the RBOB curve leading the way lower," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a note. US September heating oil, the distillate benchmark, fell 1.56 cents to settle at $1.9554 a gallon. Total trading volume for crude futures was light, just above 377,000 in afternoon trading in New York, down from 402,852 on Friday and below the 30-day average of 592,458.
According to Reuters data. Oil this year has traded in a $64.24-$87.15 range as the economy's recovery has not lifted demand sufficiently to lower ample stockpiles. US combined petroleum stocks in the week to August 13 climbed to their highest level since the government began keeping weekly records in 1990.
Oil prices received scant support from the formation of Tropical Storm Danielle, which was expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it moved west-north-west toward Bermuda, the US National Hurricane Center said. But computer models expected the storm's trajectory to take it north, missing the Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure. Though the Atlantic hurricane season was expected to be very active, so far the season has produced few disruptions to energy operations in the Gulf of Mexico region.