Oil prices slipped to near $71 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, The Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 25 cents to $71.17 a barrel by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell 16 cents to settle at $71.42. In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery fell 1.67 cents to $2.04 a gallon and heating oil dropped 0.99 cents to $1.89. Natural gas for August delivery slid 3.3 cents to $3.97 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent prices fell 13 cents to $74.15 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.