Oil prices fall below $69 after Asian stock selloff

       Oil prices fell below $69 a barrel yesterday in Asia following a selloff in regional stock markets.
       Be nchmark crude for September delivery was down 58 cents to $68.61 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract gained $2.44 to settle at $69.19.
       Most Asian stock markets dropped sharply yesterday, with Shanghai's index tumbling as much as 5 percent, amid concerns the recent rally was petering out.
       Crude has snaked around $70 a barrel for about two months amid low summer trading volume. Investors are cheered by signs that the global economy is emerging from recession, but concerned the recovery may be sluggish.
       Oil r ose as high as $70.50 a barrel yesterday before turning down, following a sharp drop in most major Asian stock indexes.
       Meanwhile, Kuwait's oil minister said there is no need for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to change production levels because crude is trading at acceptable prices.
       Sheik Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah told reporters in Kuwait yesterday that current prices are "not bad, not bad at all."
       US crude demand has been weak so far this summer, but inventories unex-pectedly fell last week, evidence consumption could be rebounding.
       Inventories plunged 6.1 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. Analysts expected the API numbers to gain 1.1 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
       The Energy Department reports mandatory supply figures yesterday,while the API numbers are reported by refiners voluntarily.
       In other Nymex trading, gasoline for September delivery fell 1.36 cent to $1.99 a gallon and heating oil dropped 0.79 cent to $1.86. Natural gas for September delivery slid 1.7 cents to $3.08 per 1,000 cubic feet.
       In London, Brent prices fell 61 cents to $71.76 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
       Tony Nunan, an energy risk manager for Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo, said large crude stockpiles in the United States will continue to weigh down on prices amid weak energy demand.
       Consumption patterns in the United States can influence prices because the US economy is the world's biggest energy user.
       In July last year, oil prices hit record peaks above $147 before collapsing due to weak energy demand arising from the effects of the world financial crisis.