Oil drops below $100 on global growth fears Brent crude oil futures tumbled to their lowest since February 2011, down $4.17 to an intra-day low of $97.70, before edging up in the afternoon. The contract lost 14.7pc in May, its biggest monthly decline since 2008. "We've had constant worries about Greece, Spain, the euro, poor data from the U.S., and overnight the Chinese data was not positive," said Tony Machacek, an oil futures broker at Jefferies Bache. "From China to Europe to the U.S., all the data have shown real slowing," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. Brent surged in March to $128 a barrel, the highest since 2008, as increased concern over the loss of Iranian oil due to tighter sanctions combined with supply hitches elsewhere. The price rise worried both oil consuming and producing countries. Saudi Arabia, the top oil exporter, has been raising output and said repeatedly it liked oil at $100. "We want a price around $100, that's what we want," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on May 13. A $100 price is great. The kingdom, OPEC's biggest producer, raised output to 10.1 million barrels per day in May, according to a Reuters survey this week, its highest in decades. Overall OPEC oil supply is at the highest since 2008.