OREANDA-NEWS. August 24, 2010.  Light, sweet crude for October delivery dipped 72 cents, or 0.98%, to settle at USD 73.10/bbl, while London Brent crude for October fell 64 cents to close at USD 73.62.

US crude oil futures prices fell on Monday for a fourth straight session, slumping to a 6-week low as a stronger dollar and tumbling gasoline futures kept pressure on crude oil. The same concerns pushed crude prices lower last week—cooling economic growth, bulging US inventories and an surplus of spare capacity held by producers and refiners.

Yesterday, gasoline futures slumped to a 6-month low, which took a toll on the O&G complex. US September RBOB gasoline futures fell 4.41 cents, or 2.29%, to settle at USD 1.8810/gallon.

A report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) after settlement found retail gasoline prices fell 4.1 cents in the week, their lowest since June 14.

The US summer driving demand season is winding down, ahead of the "shoulder" season between summer and the winter heating fuel season.

On the equities front, US stocks closed down after seesaw trading, but their retreat from a higher open helped push crude oil into negative territory. Defensive stocks like utilities helped limit the Street's losses after the latest corporate merger activities were not enough to soothe concerns about a stalling economic recovery.

Also on the bearish side, the dollar strengthened after a weaker start yesterday. The dollar index was up and the euro slipped as new Eurozone data fueled fresh concerns over the economy and investors increasingly bet on prospects of loose monetary policy until year-end.

Oil prices received little support from the formation of Tropical Storm Danielle, which is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it moved west-northwest toward Bermuda, the US National Hurricane Center said. However, computer models show the storm's trajectory should take it north, missing the Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure. All in all, the earlier forecast of a very active hurricane season has not panned out as the weather has so far barely disrupted energy operations in the GoM region.

Going forward, oil is down again this morning ahead of tomorrow’s EIA inventories report (we expect a neutral reading with crude stockpiles up 500,000 bbl and gasoline inventories down 350,000 bbl) and in view of the recent bleak housing and employment data stateside. We see virtually no upside drivers as long as inventories and macroeconomic numbers continue to play against crude prices, and expect to see pressure on the USD 70 mark again before long as the market heads into the fall “shoulder” season typically marked by weaker demand.