Oil extended its losing streak Monday, slipping below $78 a barrel in Asia, according to the Associated Press. Benchmark crude for February delivery fell was down 9 cents to $77.81 a barrel at late afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract slid $1.39 to settle at $78. The price was down $4.75 for the week after declining for five straight days. In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil fell 0.41 cent to $2.04 a gallon and gasoline was down 0.7 cent at $2.039 a gallon. Natural gas futures shed 3.8 cents to $5.653. In London, Brent crude for March delivery fell 20 cents to $76.91 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
