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Oil fell below $120 a barrel on Monday, pressured by evidence of rising OPEC output in the midst of declining demand in the United States and Europe.

The losses, adding to a record slide from the mid-July peak over $147 a barrel, came despite a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that was curbing oil production, shipping and refining.

“Crude futures are down despite a brewing storm and that shows you how momentum has shifted in this market,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago.

U.S. light crude fell $4.10 to $121.00 a barrel by 12:40 p.m. EDT after slipping as low as $119.50. London Brent crude dipped $3.55 to $120.63 a barrel.

The losses came after a Reuters survey showed OPEC supply rose for a third consecutive month in July mainly because of increased output from the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia http://paydayintime.com.

The boost in production from OPEC comes as soaring energy prices and an economic slowdown cut into consumption in the United States and Europe.

“The market is focused on falling demand with OPEC seen producing more oil,” said Alaron’s Flynn.

The bearish impact was countered by Tropical Storm Edouard, which was barreling across a major oil and gas producing area of the northern Gulf of Mexico. 

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Indonesia's central bank may raise its benchmark interest rate for a fourth straight meeting after inflation jumped to a 22-month high in July.

Governor Boediono and his seven colleagues will increase the policy rate by a quarter point to 9 percent, according to 20 of 22 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The board of governors will meet tomorrow in Jakarta.

Central banks across Asia are raising borrowing costs to contain prices of food and fuel. Bank Indonesia will raise the rate to manage inflation expectations as the nation with the world's largest Muslim population prepares to celebrate Id-ul-Fitr following the fasting month of Ramadan that begins in September, said economist Lana Soelistianingsih. Inflation accelerated 11.9 percent in July, exceeding estimates.

“People will need more money for celebrations,'' said Soelistianingsih from PT Samuel Sekuritas in Jakarta. “Bank Indonesia should minimize the inflation impact from these demand- side pressures by increasing rates.''

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government raised fuel prices by about 30 percent in May to reduce its burden of capping pump costs. That made it more expensive to transport food, steel and cement across the 18,000 islands that make Indonesia the world's largest archipelago.

Consumer prices in Indonesia jumped 11.9 percent in July, beating estimates for an 11.2 percent gain, the Central Statistics Bureau reported last week. Prices rose 1.37 percent from a month earlier.

`Remain High'

“We hope that month-on-month inflation will peak in the next one or two months, then it will slow toward the year-end, though year-on-year inflation will remain high,'' central bank Senior Deputy Governor Miranda Goeltom said Aug cash till payday. 1.

Bank Indonesia in May was the first central bank in Southeast Asia after Vietnam to raise borrowing costs this year. Vietnam increased its benchmark rate in January. India on July 29 raised its policy rate by a more-than-expected half point as inflation accelerated to the fastest pace since 1995.

PT International Nickel Indonesia, the local unit of Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron-ore producer and Indonesia's biggest producer of nickel, will announce its second- quarter earnings on Aug. 7.

PT Aneka Tambang, Indonesia's second-largest producer of nickel by market value, said sales in the second quarter of the year fell 4.6 percent as the company produced less nickel and prices declined.

Indonesia's benchmark stock index rose 0.2 percent to 2,248.75 last week, a second week of gains. PT United Tractors, Indonesia's biggest heavy-equipment seller, gained 8.4 percent after first-half profit more than doubled from a year earlier as orders for coal-extraction and construction machinery increased.

The rupiah had its seventh weekly gain on speculation the central bank will raise interest rates. The rupiah increased 0.3 percent, making it the best performer among Asia's 10 most-traded currencies outside Japan. The currency fell 0.1 percent to 9,102 at 10:22 a.m. in Jakarta.

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First Priority Bank was closed by the Commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was named receiver of the Bradenton bank after the closure late Friday. To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with SunTrust Bank (NYSE: STI) in Atlanta, to assume the insured deposits of First Priority, according to a release.

First Priority Bank, which opened in 2003, had the highest level of nonperforming loans among banks in the Tampa Bay area as of March 31, when 19 percent of its total loan portfolio was noncurrent. The bank posted a net loss of $3 million for the first quarter of 2008.

The six branches of First Priority will reopen on Monday as branches of SunTrust Bank. Depositors of the failed bank will automatically become depositors of SunTrust. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, and the FDIC said there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage. For the time being, however, customers of both banks should use their existing branches until SunTrust can fully integrate the deposit records of First Priority, the FDIC said.

Over the weekend, customers of First Priority can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards, the FDIC said. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

As of June 30 2008, First Priority had total assets of $259 million and total deposits of $227 million. At the time of closing, there were approximately $13 million in uninsured deposits held in approximately 840 accounts that potentially exceeded the insurance limits, according to the FDIC.

Customers with accounts in excess of $100,000 should contact the FDIC toll free at 1-800-837-0215 to set up an appointment to discuss their deposits payday loan online. This phone number will be operational on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT; and on Sunday and thereafter from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT.

In addition to continued access to their insured deposits, depositors of First Priority with amounts exceeding the insurance limits will receive a payment of 50 percent of their uninsured balance from the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC said it would mail these payments directly to the customers early next week and the amounts would not appear in their account balances at SunTrust Bank.

SunTrust agreed to assume the insured deposits for no premium, the FDIC said. In addition to assuming the First Priority’s insured deposits, SunTrust Bank will purchase approximately $42 million of the failed bank’s assets. The assets are comprised mainly of cash, cash equivalents and securities. The FDIC, however, entered into a separate agreement with LNV Corp. of Plano, Texas, to purchase $14 million in First Priority’s assets. LNV Corp. iis a subsidiary of Beal Bank Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.

The cost to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund is estimated to be $72 million. First Priority is the first bank to fail in Florida since Guaranty National Bank in Tallahassee in 2004. This year, a total of eight FDIC-insured institutions have been closed.