Crude prices fell on Monday as the markets showed great concerns about European debt crisis after IMF head was arrested for alleged rape attempt.
Euro zone finance ministers met to discuss the debt crisis. But the arrest of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn over sexual assault charges during the weekend added uncertainties to resolving the Greece's deteriorative debt problems. Great concerns about the European debt crisis weighted the crude markets and forced investors to be more cautious.
The effective efforts to control flooding from Mississippi River in Louisiana cooled concerns over potential shutdowns to refinery production. The spillway opening would help save Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Baton Rouge refinery, which is the largest refinery in the region with a capacity of about 505,000 barrels a day.
The New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Monday manufacturing activity in the region slowed sharply in May due to soaring raw material cost.
In recent days, the oil prices have seesawed, which made investors trim contracts and become bearish about the crude. On Friday, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed hedge funds and other large financial investors had been substantially cutting bets on higher oil prices.
But the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa helped support oil and investors still worry the turmoil could spread to other oil-exporting nations in the region.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 2.28 dollars, or 2.29 percent to settle at 97.37 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for June delivery also dropped and last traded below 113 dollars a barrel.
