Oil dropped below US$144 a barrel Monday in Asia, the Associated Press reported. Midafternoon in Singapore, light, sweet crude for August delivery was at US$143.54 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, US$1.75 lower than Thursday's floor close. The contract hit a trading record of US$145.85 on Thursday in New York before settling at a record close of US$145.29 a barrel. There was no floor trade Friday in the U.S. due to the nation's Independence Day holiday. In other Nymex trade, heating oil futures fell 5.45 cents to US$4.0515 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices dropped 3.05 cents to US$3.5405 a gallon. Natural gas futures lost 19.3 cents to US$13.384 per 1,000 cubic feet. August Brent crude fell 26 cents to US$144.16 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
