NEW YORK - Oil tumbled more than $5 on Tuesday, pushing losses so far this week to about $10, as forecasters said an Atlantic hurricane would steer clear of offshore oil platforms and the greenback gained against other currencies.
U.S. light crude settled at $136.04 a barrel, down $5.33, after dropping as low as $135.14 a barrel, the lowest since June 26. London Brent crude settled at $136.43 a barrel, down $5.44.
The losses pull oil sharply off last week's record $145.85, a peak scaled amid rising tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and worries a brewing storm could hit the Gulf of Mexico's offshore oil fields.
Hurricane Bertha became a "major" hurricane on Monday, but none of the computer models used to predict storm tracks indicated it would steer toward the Gulf of Mexico, home to about a quarter of U.S. oil production.
"It seems the tone is easing for now and the hurricane (concern) is gone," a broker said.
Dealers added the gain in the U.S. dollar triggered some technical selling in the commodities markets.
The dollar rebounded after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank may keep an emergency lending facility open beyond the end of the year for big Wall Street firms.
But analysts said the market focus would shift later this week to U.S. weekly oil statistics and a monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which will give a fresh look at the demand-supply situation amid a slowing world economy.
"We have U.S. weekly stats tomorrow and the IEA report comes up a day after," said Mike Wittner, the head of oil research with Societe Generale.
The weekly U.S. oil inventory data, which will include gasoline demand during the long weekend for the July 4 Independence Day holiday, will be released on Wednesday.
A Reuters preliminary poll shows analysts expect a 1.8-million-barrel decline in crude stocks, a rise of 200,000 barrels in gasoline supplies and an increase of 1.9 million barrels in distillates.
Refining margins, or profit levels for oil refiners from producing products, have weakened recently as prices of fuels such as gasoline and gas oil have not kept up with the sharp rise in crude oil prices.
U.S. light crude settled at $136.04 a barrel, down $5.33, after dropping as low as $135.14 a barrel, the lowest since June 26. London Brent crude settled at $136.43 a barrel, down $5.44.
The losses pull oil sharply off last week's record $145.85, a peak scaled amid rising tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and worries a brewing storm could hit the Gulf of Mexico's offshore oil fields.
Hurricane Bertha became a "major" hurricane on Monday, but none of the computer models used to predict storm tracks indicated it would steer toward the Gulf of Mexico, home to about a quarter of U.S. oil production.
"It seems the tone is easing for now and the hurricane (concern) is gone," a broker said.
Dealers added the gain in the U.S. dollar triggered some technical selling in the commodities markets.
The dollar rebounded after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank may keep an emergency lending facility open beyond the end of the year for big Wall Street firms.
But analysts said the market focus would shift later this week to U.S. weekly oil statistics and a monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which will give a fresh look at the demand-supply situation amid a slowing world economy.
"We have U.S. weekly stats tomorrow and the IEA report comes up a day after," said Mike Wittner, the head of oil research with Societe Generale.
The weekly U.S. oil inventory data, which will include gasoline demand during the long weekend for the July 4 Independence Day holiday, will be released on Wednesday.
A Reuters preliminary poll shows analysts expect a 1.8-million-barrel decline in crude stocks, a rise of 200,000 barrels in gasoline supplies and an increase of 1.9 million barrels in distillates.
Refining margins, or profit levels for oil refiners from producing products, have weakened recently as prices of fuels such as gasoline and gas oil have not kept up with the sharp rise in crude oil prices.
