Oil dips near $70 in Asia

Global oil prices continued losses in Asian trading on Monday and dropped below $70 a barrel for the first time in three months. Light sweet crude for June delivery was seen trading at $ 70.09 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time after hitting as low as $69.82 a barrel earlier. In London, Brent crude was seen at $76.53 a barrel at the same time. The black gold dropped for a fifth day, the longest losing streak in five weeks, as the euro extended losses against the dollar, damping the investment appeal of commodities. Crude oil fell below $US70 a barrel in New York for the first time in three months on concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis may derail the global economic recovery and reduce fuel consumption. The euro sank to four-year lows as angst over Europe''s debt crisis led investors to pull more money from stocks in favour of havens such as gold and Asian bonds. Analysts said oil’s decline this month is being driven by Europe’s debt crisis. Stockpiles of crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for the U.S. contract''s West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude, have risen in the last eight weeks to a record of 37 million barrels. On Friday, oil prices plunged nearly 4 percent. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate contract settled at $71.61 a barrel while Brent crude for June closed at $77.18 a barrel