Oil falls to near $71 in Asia on faltering demand

Oil prices fell to near $71
a barrel Thursday in Asia, dragged down by signs of
faltering U.S. crude demand and concerns the global
economic recovery will be anemic, AP reported.
Benchmark crude for October delivery was down 3 cents to
$71.40 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On
Wednesday it fell 62 cents to settle at $71.43
Oil briefly hit the $75 a barrel level Tuesday but failed
to breakthrough the barrier and has been sliding since
then.
Investors are cashing out as new government data showed
weak demand with crude supplies rising last week in the
United States, the world's biggest energy user, said Tetsu
Emori, commodity markets fund manager at ASTMAZ Futures Co.
in Tokyo.
-- SPA