LONDON—Oil prices fell more than $1 as more signs the global economic recovery may be stalling fueled concerns over energy demand.
Data released Sunday showed oil imports to China, the world's largest energy consumer, fell to their lowest level in eight months in June.
Ahead of the New York day, the front-month August Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was down $1.41, or 1.2%, at $116.92 a barrel. The front-month August contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $1.35, or 1.4%, at $94.85 a barrel.
Crude prices have been falling since Friday's U.S. jobs report showed the world's largest economy barely added jobs in June. Nonfarm payrolls rose 18,000 in June, well below the 125,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
Chinese data released over the weekend fed into this bearish sentiment, after it showed June crude imports fell 5.7% from a month earlier to 4.81 million barrels a day.
Meanwhile, surging inflation there added to concerns that the central bank could move to hike interest rates again. China's consumer price index rose 6.4% in June from a year earlier, government data showed Saturday, the biggest monthly rise since June 2008.
Moves by the Chinese government to tighten economic policy are seen as negative for oil prices as they could slow economic growth and dent demand for crude.
Contributing to the increased risk aversion were renewed fears that the debt crisis in Greece could spread to other euro-zone countries.
European Council president Herman Van Rompuy called an emergency meeting of top European Union officials for Monday to discuss plans for a second rescue package for Greece and growing concerns about market pressure on Italy.
The news sent the euro plummeting against the dollar, adding to the downward pressure on oil prices as a stronger greenback makes the commodity more expensive for holders of other currencies.
"The rise in oil prices during the last two weeks has been impressive, but this weekend's developments have provided us with a stark reminder that if growth prospects in China and in the Eurozone are in doubt then sentiment could turn quickly and we may see investors deserting oil," brokerage PVM said in a note.
