Crude Oil Futures Take a Tumble

Crude oil futures were falling hard Monday, fueled by renewed strength in the U.S. dollar, a decrease in tension between Iran and Western nations and investor profit-taking after last week's run-up.

West Texas crude was trading $3.69 lower at $141.60 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent futures were losing $3.67 at $142.41 a barrel.

Reformulated gasoline was down 8 cents at $3.48 a gallon, heating oil was off 12 cents at $3.98 a gallon, and near-term natural gas was down 43 cents at $13.13 per million British thermal units.

Partly responsible for the falloff in crude was the dollar's advance against the euro, the yen and the pound ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later this week. Specifically, investors will be listening for any clue as to what Bernanke's intentions are regarding U.S. interest rates. If he signals a tightening bias, the dollar could build on its strength.

Elsewhere, a televised appearance by Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki over the weekend has calmed some the alarmist discussion regarding the possibility of a military conflict between his country and Israel. Mottaki told CNN that talks with Western governments are heading toward a peaceful solution to the worries about his country's nuclear research, which the West fears is aimed at creating atomic weapons.

Meanwhile, integrated energy stocks were moving lower. BP (BP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was down 0.4% at $66.04, ConocoPhillips(COP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was losing 1.9% to $90.13., and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was dropping 0.8% at $78.24. Exxon Mobil(XOM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was lower by 1.6% at $86.89.