Oil prices have dropped on concerns that China will make further moves to tighten credit, energy analysts said.
New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, slid 75 cents to 74.51 dollars a barrel.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for March delivery decreased by 59 cents to 73.10 dollars at about 1230 GMT.
Prices were driven lower on “concerns that China might further restrict bank lending,” said Victor Shum, an analyst at energy consultants Purvin and Gertz.
“That’s what’s driving the market.”
Policymakers in China have taken steps to tighten credit lending in a bid to slow down a roaring economy, which grew by 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter.
China is the world’s second biggest oil consuming nation after the United States.
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