Oil Falls to Near $82 in Asia

World oil prices dropped towards $82 a barrel mark in Asia after regional stocks tumbled amid lingering economic concerns in the US and Europe. WTI crude for September delivery was seen trading at $82.07 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude in London dipped to $105.49 a barrel on the ICE. Analysts said the black Gold is likely to dip further during the day as all major stocks in Asia including Chinese, Indian, South Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong and Australian remained sharply lower in early trade Thursday. Globally, The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1% to 121.56 as the cost of protecting the government debt of Greece, Italy, Spain and France rose. The gauge pared a loss of as much as 2.4%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 4.4% in New York Wednesday. That followed its biggest jump in more than two years on August 9 and its worst loss since 2008 on August 8. Analysts said a dip in US inventories Wednesday helped oil to overcome some losses but renewed worries over debt contagion in Europe pulled down prices again. US Department of Energy announced said American crude inventories tumbled by 5.2 million barrels in the week ending August 5. Investors remain focused on Europe after cracks appeared in Greece''s latest bailout package and rumors abounded in France that Paris, and possibly its banks, would also be downgraded as the United States was on Friday On Wednesday, WTI light sweet crude for September delivery finished at $82.89, $3.59 higher than Tuesday''s close. In London, Brent North Sea crude for September rose $4.11 to $106.68 per barrel, having earlier peaked at $107.11.