OIL prices plunged below US$65 (S$94.76) a barrel Monday in Asia as dismal unemployment figures from the US and Europe last week sparked investor concern about a nascent economic recovery.

Benchmark crude for August delivery fell US$2.50 to US$64.23 a barrel by late afternoon Singapore time, after earlier dropping as low as US$64.19, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It last settled on Thursday at US$66.73.

Trading was closed in the US on Friday for the Independence Day holiday.

Oil has tumbled from an eight-month high above US$73 a barrel last week after gloomy US consumer confidence and jobs numbers fuelled doubts about a rally that has doubled the price of crude since March.

'It's not looking too pretty in terms of economic data,' said Mr Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. 'The demand side fear is coming back into play.' A Labour Department report last week showed the US economy lost a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 per cent, a 26-year high. Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro spiked to a 10-year high in May, also at 9.5 per cent.

'More and more people are becoming convinced we won't see a full-blown recovery any time soon,' Mr Moltke-Leth said. He said he expects the oil price to soon test the US$60 a barrel level.

Another attack on oil operations in Nigeria helped bolster prices. Militants said on Sunday they attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil facility in southern Nigeria, the latest sabotage in a campaign that has undermined output from Africa's largest producer.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery fell 5.68 cents to US$1.73 a gallon and heating oil slid 5.23 cents to US$1.65.

Natural gas for August delivery plummeted 10.5 cents to US$3.51 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices dropped US$1.51 to US$64.10 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. -- AP