* Dollar strength after bounce helps weigh on oil
* US gasoline futures slump to 6-month low, weigh on crude
* Coming up: API oil inventory data, Tues, 4:30 p.m. EDT
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity to settlement)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices
fell on Monday for a fourth straight session, slumping to a
six-week low as a stronger dollar and tumbling gasoline futures
kept pressure on crude oil.
The same concerns pummeled oil prices last week -- slowing
economic growth, bulging U.S. inventories and plenty of spare
capacity held by producers and refiners.
U.S. crude for October delivery <CLc1> fell 72 cents, or
0.98 percent, to settle at $73.10 a barrel, having traded from
$72.75 to $74.48. That $72.75 intraday low was the lowest since
prices fell to $71.44 on July 7.
The October contract took over front-month position after
Friday's expiration of the September contract.
October Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 64 cents to settle at
$73.62.
"Crude was pressured by dollar's strength and follow-on
downward momentum as the October crude contract picked up where
the September contract left off," said Stephen Schork,
president at the Schork Group in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Also weighing on the oil complex, gasoline futures slumped
to a six-month low. U.S. September RBOB gasoline futures <RBc1>
fell 4.41 cents, or 2.29 percent, to settle at $1.8810 a
gallon. The session low was $1.8777, the lowest since $1.8716
on Feb. 12.
The U.S. summer driving demand season is near the end,
ahead of the "shoulder" season between summer and the winter
heating fuel season.
While the September crude contract expired on Friday, the
September refined products contracts expire on Aug. 31.
Gasoline's premium or crack spread against crude oil
<RB-CL1=R> hit a low of $4.07 a barrel, the lowest since
slumping to $1.54 on Nov. 16, 2009. []
"The complex easily picked up where it left off last week
by dropping down into 6-7-week lows with the front of the RBOB
curve leading the way lower," Jim Ritterbusch, president at
Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a note.
U.S. September heating oil <HOc1>, the distillate
benchmark, fell 1.56 cents to settle at $1.9554 a gallon.
U.S. stocks fell after seesaw trading, but their retreat
from a higher open helped turn crude oil negative. Defensive
stocks like utilities helped limit Wall Street's slip after the
latest corporate merger activities were not enough to soothe
concerns about a stalling economic recovery. []
Total trading volume for crude futures was light, just
above 377,000 in afternoon trading in New York, down from
402,852 on Friday and below the 30-day average of 592,458,
according to Reuters data.
The dollar strengthened after a weaker start on Monday. The
dollar index <.DXY> was up and the euro slipped as new euro
zone data added to concerns over the economy and investors
increasingly bet on prospects of loose monetary policy until
year-end. []
A stronger dollar can pressure oil prices as money shifts
out of more risky commodities and also because countries with
other currencies must pay more for dollar-denominated oil.
Oil this year has traded in a $64.24-$87.15 range as the
economy's recovery has not lifted demand sufficiently to lower
ample stockpiles. U.S. combined petroleum stocks in the week to
Aug. 13 climbed to their highest level since the government
began keeping weekly records in 1990. []
Oil prices received scant support from the formation of
Tropical Storm Danielle, which was expected to strengthen into
a hurricane as it moved west-northwest toward Bermuda, the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said. []
But computer models expected the storm's trajectory to take
it north, missing the Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure.
Though the Atlantic hurricane season was expected to be very
active, so far the season has produced few disruptions to
energy operations in the Gulf of Mexico region.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Alex Lawler
in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by
David Gregorio)
