Oil prices fell below $74 in Asian trade today as a supply glut in the US and uncertainties in the eurozone weighed on the market, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery dropped 62 cents to $73.78 while Brent North Sea crude for June shed 34 cents to $79.77.
"The fundamentals story in the US is very weak because of the very high stock levels," said Ben Westmore, a Melbourne-based energy economist with the National Australia Bank, referring to supplies outpacing demand.
"You've also got some further uncertainty about the demand outlook in Europe," he told AFP.
Concerns over financial contagion in the eurozone have persisted and a one trillion dollar rescue package for troubled countries from the European Union and International Monetary Fund has so far failed to calm markets.
Westmore said the price of Brent crude was at its highest premium against the New York contract since February 2009 due to a supply glut at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point.
Stockpiles at the Cushing terminal rose to a record 37 million barrels last week from 36.2 million the week before.
New York crude has slumped from a 19-month peak of $87.15 a barrel reached on May 3 due to worries the crisis in Europe could threaten the global economic recovery.
For oil prices to rebound, "we really need to see both the product stocks... And the crude inventory stocks in the US start to decrease and as yet, we're not really seeing a trend in that way," Westmore said.
Demand in the United States is closely watched by the market because it is the world's biggest energy consuming nation.
