Crude oil prices fell Monday as supply was improved and world demand growth for energy was slowing.

Light sweet crude for delivery in October, New York's main contract, plunged by 75 cents to 63.33 dollars per barrel in closing trade. The gasoline for delivery in October slipped 9 cents to 1.87 dollars a gallon.

The price of Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell sharply 1.04 dollars to close at 61.80 dollars per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.

US announced that efforts to resume production are progressing after Katrina brought much of the Gulf Coast to a standstill, but officials say nearly 60 percent of the region's capacity remains blocked from the market.

The the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday that the total world supply situation in August was 2.0 million barrels a day above the figure 12 months earlier. Oil's rally, which has pushed prices up by 50 percent since the start of the year, is putting the brakes on consumption -- with the IEA revising down its forecast for world demand growth this year by 250,000 bpd to 1.35 million bpd last Friday.

A U.S. nationwide survey released Sunday found that damage to Gulf Coast oil production pushed retail gas prices to historic highsin the past two weeks in the United States, with self-serve regular averaging 3 dollars a gallon.

Source: Xinhua