Oil prices fell to near $69 a barrel Monday in Asia, the Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 56 cents at $69.31 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling as low as $68.59. On Friday, the contract gave up 67 cents to settle at $69.87. In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil rose 1.20 cents to $1.91 while gasoline gained 1.61 cents to $1.85. Natural gas fell 12.8 cents to $5.29 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude for January delivery dropped 16 cents to $71.72 on the ICE Futures exchange.
