Oil falls 3 percent as stock markets slide

By Robert Campbell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil tumbled more than 3 percent on Tuesday as a global stock market slide prompted profit-taking ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna and dragged prices further from a record near $104 a barrel.

U.S. light crude for April delivery fell $3.17 to $99.28 a barrel by 1916 GMT, off a record high of $103.95 hit Monday on expectations the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would hold output steady on Wednesday.

London Brent crude traded down $3.07 to $97.47 a barrel.

World stock markets fell sharply on Tuesday amid renewed worries about the health of big banks after the head of major Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund warned U.S. banking giant Citigroup needed billions of dollars in fresh capital to cope with mounting credit losses.

"The stock market is down and there is expectation that Wednesday's EIA data will show another build in crude stocks," said Tom Knight, trader at Truman Arnold in Texarkana, Texas.

Traders expect the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration to report on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil stocks rose for the ninth consecutive week, according to a Reuters survey.

U.S. gasoline stocks, already at 14-year highs, are expected to have grown for the 17th week in a row, further cutting into bullish sentiment. Traders drove down U.S. gasoline futures more than 5 percent in response, pilling further pressure on crude oil prices.

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman repeated calls for OPEC to increase production, while President George W. Bush said the producer group would be making a "mistake" to allow high energy prices to hurt the economies of its main customers.