Oil Falls Below $70 on Stronger Dollar

New York, NY, Sept. 21, 2009--Crude-oil futures fell Monday to under $70 a barrel for the first time in a week, as a stronger dollar weighed on commodities prices and as concerns about weak demand continued to dampen trading sentiment.

The October crude contract, which expires Tuesday, fell $2.79, or 3.9%, to $69.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, moving below $70 for the first time since Sept. 14. The contract ended last week's trading up 4%.

Crude prices have gained more than 60% this year and reached a 10-month high of $75 a barrel on Aug. 25.

The Energy Information Administration said last week that gasoline demand in the U.S., the world's biggest energy consumer, fell to 9 million barrels a day in the week ended Sept. 11, down 3% from a week ago.

Total petroleum demand dropped to 19.1 million barrels a day, down 2.1% from a week ago, the EIA said. That's the lowest level since the week ended Aug. 7.