Singapore, June 4, IRNA - Oil plunged to fresh eight-month lows near $82 a barrel Monday in Asia.
According to AP, Benchmark oil for July delivery was down $1.09 to $82.14 per barrel, the lowest since October, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $3.30 to settle at $83.23 in New York on Friday.
In London, Brent crude for July delivery was down $1.07 at $97.36 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Crude has plummeted 23 percent in the last month amid signs of weak global economic growth.
Oil traders often look to global stock markets as a barometer of overall investor sentiment, and Asian equities were sharply lower Monday after the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 2.2 percent Friday.
In other energy trading, heating oil was down 1.4 cents at $2.61 per gallon while gasoline futures fell 2.2 cents at $2.63 per gallon. Natural gas gained 1.6 cents at $2.34 per 1,000 cubic feet.
