U. S. crude futures fell below $70 a barrel on Monday, sliding by almost 4 percent on the back of fear of a curb in Chinese bank lending dented optimism about an economic recovery and a pick-up in energy demand. New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas futures traded down slightly midday Monday, pressured by soft cash prices, a sinking crude market and mild Northeast and Midwest weather that have slowed demand.

Idemitsu Kosan Co plans to refine 12 percent less crude in September than a year earlier, amid continued weak demand for refined products and as it moves up the start of seasonal maintenance at one of its refineries.

U. S. crude inventories likely fell 400,000 barrels last week, a preliminary poll of analysts showed ahead of weekly supply data. The poll showed that analysts think gasoline stocks declined and distillate supplies increased.

AccuWeather. com expects temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest, key gas consuming regions, to range from near normal to below normal for the next week, with highs mostly in the mid- to high-70s Fahrenheit area.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring an area of low pressure in the central Atlantic that has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next 48 hours, but forecast tracks are still too far out to show whether the system could threaten Gulf of Mexico energy production.

Crude oil prices have been following the movement in equities lately. Crude oil is expected to move up today following the expectations of strong economic data. Natural gas continues to remain weak fundamentally.