Oil prices fall amid concern over demand decline

NEW YORK, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Crude futures fell below 125 U.S. dollars a barrel Monday amid concerns of possible decline in demand due to rising prices.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery closed at 124.23 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, 1.73 dollars down from the all-time peak 125.95 dollars on Friday. It was the first time crude futures have dropped in six straight trading sessions.

Record high crude prices, which gained 8.3 percent in last week's price rally, have raised concern that major oil importers may cut demand.

Also hit market Monday was a government data showing that India's industrial production grew at the slowest pace since 2002. Some analysts believe that the pressure from global commodity inflation on emerging countries have been underestimated.

The dollar rose against the euro Monday, which is believed to have helped crude prices fall back to average.

Recent oil price spike has prompted calls for an early meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Export Countries (OPEC). But oil officials from Ecuador, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iran denied the possibility on Monday.

In London, Brent crude futures for June delivery settled at 122.91 dollars a barrel, trading down 2.49 dollars.