Crude oil sank in New York as the euro dropped against the dollar, which weakened the attraction of commodities for hedging against price rise. Crude halted a six-day losing streak after stocks in the U. S. increased less as compared to the forecast of the analysts last week and supplies of distillate fuel unpredictably declined.

Robert Montefusco, a Sucden Financial broker in London said, "It's currency speculation that's driving the oil market right now. With the euro in trouble, banks are selling any rallies in the currency and oil and metals are tracking that. At some stage, OPEC will step in to address oversupply".

Crude oil for June delivery traded at $68.29 at 12:33 p. m. London time and fell as much as $1.69, to $68.18 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, Brent crude oil for July settlement dropped $1.70 to $71.99.

The July contract in New York dropped $1.70 at $70.78 and the euro came down to the extent of 0.8 percent to $1.232, within two cents of the four-year low it reached yesterday. Reuters reported that the Minerals Management Service were urged by a group of 20 Democratic lawmakers in the U. S. to shut down BP Plc's Atlantis oil as well as gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico, till the time when regulators confirm whether it is operating safely.