Oil drops on weak economic data from Asia

Oil prices have dropped with the European benchmark contract slipping below $US100 ($A108.20) a barrel on concerns about fragile demand, heavy supply and a strengthening US dollar. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell 63 cents to $US92.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday, its lowest level since January. European benchmark Brent oil for October delivery declined 62 cents to $US100.20 a barrel, after earlier falling below $US100 a barrel for the first time since June 2013. Matt Smith, analyst at Schneider Electric, cited weak economic data from China and Japan, two major oil consumers, as 'not the best start to the week on the economic data front.' China showed a surprising drop of 2.4 per cent in imports, while Japan said its economy shrank 1.8 per cent on-quarter in April-June, worse than the previously estimated contraction of 1.7 per cent, according to skynews.com