Oil prices fell this evening, affected by a stronger US dollar, while the market watched for signals ahead of an OPEC meeting this week.
US crude fell $1.63 to $79.61 a barrel after dropping as low as $79.16, the lowest level since March 2. London Brent crude traded down $1.59 at $77.80 a barrel.
The dollar edged up against the euro and yen after US industrial data showed an increase in output in February, despite severe storms that shut down much of the country's transport sector.
A stronger dollar tends to put pressure on oil because it makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for other currency holders.
Oil markets will be watching the outcome of OPEC's meeting this week. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps at least one in every three barrels of oil, meets in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss production policy.
Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi told a news conference in Tehran that low global demand means Iran wants OPEC 'to keep its current production ceiling'.
