Oil falls to near $83 in Asia

Oil prices headed lower to near $83 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as investor fears of a recession in developed countries sent equities and commodities lower. Benchmark oil for October delivery was down $3.02 to $83.43 at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude last settled at $86.45 on Friday because U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. In London, Brent crude for October delivery was steady at $110.08 on the ICE Futures exchange. In other Nymex trading for October contracts, heating oil fell 5.1 cents at $2.95 per gallon and gasoline futures dropped 6.1 cents at $2.78 per gallon. Natural gas for October delivery slid 0.4 cent to $3.87 per 1,000 cubic feet. Analysts said the black gold is likely to dip again during the day on speculation that slowing economic growth in the U.S. and China will crimp fuel consumption in the world''s two biggest crude users. However they added that prices may climb again in the latter half of the week as expectations for further economic stimulus in the U.S. might boost sentiment. There was no settlement on Monday due to a holiday in the U.S. Brent plunged over $2 a barrel on Monday on weak economic data from the U.S. and China. The European benchmark was at a premium of $26.48 to U.S. futures, compared with a record close of. On Monday, oil prices slid, hit by weak economic data in the United States and China, the world''s two biggest consumers of energy, analysts said.