Oil nears $100 mark on profit taking

[freedomnorth]

Source: Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Oil fell nearly $2 to around $100 a barrel on Monday, extending last week's deep losses as funds sought to lock in first-quarter profits and Saudi Arabia reassured consumers of its plans to boost supply.

U.S. light crude for May delivery fell $1.70 to $100.14 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 12:18 a.m. EDT. Prices dropped by almost $9, about 8 percent, last week as investors fled the commodities complex on fears that gains had been overdone, giving a lift to the beleaguered dollar in the process.

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"I think there's still a lot of profit taking in the market and that is pushing down oil prices. The U.S. dollar is also bouncing back from major currencies, so that's adding to the downward pressure," said Tetsu Emori, a Tokyo-based fund manager at Astmax Co Ltd.

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Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it was working to expand its oil production and refinery capacity in order to maintain world economic growth, reaffirming its vow to invest tens of billions of dollars in new wells and infrastructure.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSSYD3274320080324