OIL PRICES SLIP

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Oil prices slip Friday, September 8, 2006 (Singapore): Crude oil prices fell in Asian trading Friday after a US inventory report showed that higher refinery production was helping boost gasoline and distillate inventories. Light, sweet crude for October delivery dropped 17 cents to $67.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Thursday fell 18 cents to settle at $67.32 a barrel. Heating oil inched down marginally to $1.8870 a gallon (3.8 liters), while gasoline prices gained 0.18 cent to $1.6435 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose slightly to $5.720 per 1,000 cubic feet. Alaskan production Also easing supply worries was the possibility that BP PLC could restore lost Alaskan production at Prudhoe Bay back on line by the end of October as well as the resumption of some oil production in Nigeria. US crude inventories fell 2.2 million barrels last week to 330.6 million barrels, the US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration said Thursday. Gasoline inventories rose by 700,000 barrels to 206.9 million barrels, which is 6.6 percent above year-ago levels. Distillate fuel inventories rose by 3.1 million barrels to 139.9 million barrels, a bigger build than most analysts expected. They are now slightly above were they were a year ago. (AP)