Oil drops below $62 in Asia

Oil prices eased off six-month highs Thursday in Asia after rallying the day before to above $62 a barrel on a bigger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude inventories.Benchmark crude for July delivery was down 49 cents to $61.55 a barrel midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Oil has surged about 75 percent since March on signs the global economy, while still struggling through a severe slowdown, may have avoided a worst-case scenario.On Wednesday, the July contract rose $1.94 to settle at $62.04 after the government said U.S. crude inventories fell for a second week, suggesting demand may be improving.Crude stockpiles dropped by 2.1 million barrels for the week ended May 15, according to Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. Gasoline inventories dropped by 4.3 million barrels.