Oil remains below $75 in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Global oil prices remained below $ 75 a barrel in Asian trade Wednesday as the dollar strengthened further against major currencies.

Light sweet crude for March delivery was seen trading at $74.61 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $ 73.27 a barrel at the same time.

On Tuesday, the black gold dropped 0.7 percent on concerns China may take further steps to cool its economy.

March delivery fell 55 cents to settle at $74.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude for March delivery gave up 40 cents to settle at $73.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil lost 1.5 cents to settle at $1.9508 a gallon, while gasoline dropped 3.34 cents to settle at $1.9674 a gallon.

February natural gas futures fell 23.7 cents to settle at $5.485 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The greenback rose against the euro as investors sold the European currency on concern about fiscal deficits in the region. The dollar traded at $1.4081 to the euro from $1.4072 Tuesday.

Crude also dropped on speculation that oil demand may wane in China because of concerns of a slowing economy after banks began restricting new loans in response to a push by regulators to contain credit.

US Energy Department is scheduled to release its inventory report later Wednesday.