Oil prices slip on slow economy

LONDON, July 17: Oil prices fell again on Thursday after slumping by more than $10 over the past two days on prospects that slowing economic growth would cut demand for crude, traders said.New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, lost 79 cents to $133.81 a barrel, after dropping $4.14 on Wednesday and $6.44 on Tuesday, the sharpest daily decline since January 1991.London’s Brent North Sea oil for September lost 73 cents to 135.08 dollars.The Brent August contract expired Wednesday down $2.56 at $136.19.Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar said the market was supported by strong fundamentals of supply and demand in the long-term.However, he added: “In the short term there is a real concern about the health of economies globally.”Prices have crumbled since striking record highs above $147 last Friday and losses accelerated on Wednesday after a bigger-than-expected rise in US crude reserves, analysts said.“Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday largely driven by an unexpected weekly rise in US oil and gasoline inventories,” said an analyst at Barclays Capital.