Oil tumbles on dollar strength

Crude oil fell to a four-week low as a stronger dollar reduced the appeal of commodities and on speculation that U.S. inventories increased.

Oil dropped 1.8% as the dollar climbed against the euro after China took steps to curb lending and as Greece's bonds tumbled. Prices also decreased on speculation that a government report tomorrow will show a third consecutive gain in crude stockpiles.

"We continue to be at the mercy of the financial markets," said Gene McGillian, an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. "Investors now treat oil as an asset class."

Crude oil for February delivery fell $1.40 to $77.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since Dec. 23. The February contract expired today. The more-active March contract declined $1.58, or 2%, to end the session at $77.74.

Oil was little changed from the settlement after the American Petroleum Institute reported at 4:32 p.m. that crude- oil supplies declined 1.8 million barrels to 328.3 million. March oil was down $1.60 at $77.72 a barrel at 4:36 p.m.

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