Oil fell slightly in Asia on Monday as the Chinese premier's downbeat comments on the economy underlined the possibility of weak demand from the world's second biggest crude consumer. Benchmark oil for August delivery was down 41 cents at $86.69 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.02 to finish at $87.10 per barrel in New York on Friday. Brent crude was up 6 cents at $101.48 on the ICE futures exchange. In other futures trading, heating oil was down 0.1 cent at $2.787 a gallon and natural gas was off 0.2 cent to $2.872 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gasoline fell 0.6 cents to $2.68 a gallon, according to a report of the Associated Press.
