Oil settles below 85 dollars as demand concerns weigh

NEW YORK, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell for a fourth day on Monday despite a weak dollar and upbeat reports on Greece rescue and company takeovers.

Market sentiment was boosted on Monday as euro zone nations' agreement on a 30-billion-euro package to Greece eased investors' concerns over the debt crisis. The above report also pushed euro higher, and the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies.

However, energy commodities, which are priced in the dollar, didn't follow the usual inverse correlation with the currency. Crude futures dropped to as low as 84.08 U.S. dollars a barrel in New York trading.

Analysts believed that the strong rally between end of March and early April, which sent oil prices to 86.84 dollars from 80 dollars, has no fundamental support and the still-weak demand does not justify a 85-dollar oil.

According to latest government data, U.S. commercial crude inventory has been rising for ten consecutive weeks.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 58 cents to settle at 84.34 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude for May delivery fell 5 cents to 84.78 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.