Oil Falls to Two-Week Low Under $100

Oil fell to a two-week low Monday to less than $100 a barrel in part due to concerns that Japan’s big earthquake Friday will hurt growth and reduce fuel demand in that country’s economy, the world’s third-largest, Bloomberg reported.

Crude futures fell to $99.27 in early New York Mercantile Exchange trading, after closing at more than $100 for most of the past two weeks.

Oil finished at $105.02 per barrel last Tuesday, the highest closing price since September 2008.

Prices have dropped 6.1% in the past five days, the longest string of declines in the past month, Bloomberg figures showed.

Diesel and gasoline prices have soared about 30 cents in the past two weeks and have risen every week for more than three months, with one slight downturn for gasoline. Prices for both fuels are approaching $4 a gallon.

The Department of Energy will release its weekly survey of pump prices Monday afternoon in Washington.