Oil down following Iran's response to incentives

Crude futures dipped Monday amid a measure of relief that Iran has accepted some parts of a Western offer aimed at getting the country to halt its nuclear program, even as it rejected others. The incentives include promises that the United States and Europe will provide Iran nuclear technology and that Washington will join direct talks with Teheran. Light sweet crude for July delivery was down 18 cents to US $71.45 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract rose by more than a dollar to settle at US $71.63 a barrel.