Oil drops to near $80 in Asia, extending Friday's losses

Singapore: Oil prices have dropped to near US $80 a barrel in Asia, extending losses from Friday as a monthlong rally fizzled out.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was down 47 cents to $80.21 a barrel at midday Monday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.52 to settle at $80.68 a barrel on Friday.

In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil fell 1.17 cents to $2.065 a gallon, and gasoline dropped 1.11 cents to $2.245 a gallon. Natural gas rose 4.3 cents to $4.126 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was down 25 cents at $79.63 on the ICE futures exchange.