Crude oil futures fell on Monday as investors were shocked on the huge trade deficit figure of China and how intensely it could affect the global economy. China reported the trade deficit of $31.48 billion for the month of February as compared to trade surplus of $27.28 billion in the month of January. The surprise trade deficit shows that China’s exports increased in slower pace as compared to its exports.  Analysts think of China as the whole growth engine especially for oil as China also happens to be the largest consumer of crude oil in the world. However China also imported record figure of crude oil in February.

Crude oil futures for April delivery fell 1 percent or $1.06 to settle at $106.34 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Most of analyst have reduced their outlook for the crude oil and foresee correction in coming sessions.

Among other energy commodities, gasoline futures contract for April delivery declined 0.3 percent or $0.01 to settle at $3.32 per gallon while heating oil futures for the same month delivery fell 0.6 percent or $0.02 to $3.24 per gallon.

Natural gas futures contract for April delivery slipped 2.4 percent or $0.05 to settle at $2.27 per million British thermal units which also happens to its lowest in last 10 years.