By Max Lin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude futures fell by more than $1 in thin trade in Asia Thursday due to a strong dollar, which is poised to strengthen as quantitative easing ends and amid European debt worries. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $94.23 a barrel at 0648 GMT, down $1.18 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.97 to $113.24 a barrel. News of a 6.7-magnitude earthquake off northeast Japan at 6.51 a.m. local time weighed on crude. No damage was reported but the news, coupled with the dollar's strength, kept market sentiment bearish. "The dollar will likely stay strong...there are still concerns about European debt and the quantitative easing is ending," said Takumi Otsuka, head of commodity derivatives customer development at Mizuho Securities. Although Greece's government survived a vote of confidence earlier this week and is set to continue its austerity measures, many investors see a long-term bearish outlook for the euro as several European countries are facing debt problems that are unlikely to be fully resolved anytime soon. Also, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday quashed speculation of any further credit easing, saying the second round of quantitative easing will end at the end of this month as planned. "We see the engine of inflation (QE2) stalled out...that should affect oil prices longer term," consultancy Cameron Hanover said in a note. The market's focus will likely shift to figures on weekly jobless claims Thursday and the third estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product Friday. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for July--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 302 points to $2.9431 a gallon, while July heating oil traded at $2.9207, 342 points lower. ICE gasoil for July changed hands at $925.25 a metric ton, down $1.25 from Wednesday's settlement. -By Max Lin, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-6415-4063; max.lin@dowjones.com

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