Oil prices weakened Friday, dampened by concerns that a recovery in U.S. demand may be slower than expected and as stockpiles of refined products continued to rise, the Associated Press reported. By midday in Europe, benchmark crude for October delivery was down 67 cents to $71.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 3 cents to settle at $72.47 on Thursday. In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery slipped 1.84 cents to $1.8328 a gallon, and heating oil fell 1.53 cents to $1.8256 a gallon. Natural gas rose 8.1 cents to $3.539 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude fell 73 cents to $70.82 on the ICE Futures exchange.
