NEW YORK: Oil prices came off their lows Friday on easing concerns over Greece's debt crisis and a report showing US manufacturing activity recovered somewhat in June from a sharp slowdown in May. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost 25 cents to $95.17 per barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded as low as $93.46 earlier in the day. In London, Brent crude fell $1.22 to $111.32 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. Oil fell after China reported that its manufacturing industry cooled off in June, slipping to its slowest pace in 28 months. Activity slowed down as credit tightened due to inflation-fighting measures and weaker oversea demand. The country is still expected to drive world oil demand for years to come, but slower manufacturing growth means demand for fuels may not grow as quickly. Trading could be volatile ahead of a long weekend in the US, where markets will be closed Monday for Independence Day holiday, analysts said. After ending last year around $91 a barrel, oil peaked at nearly $114 in late April. Crude has given up about 16 percent since the beginning of May. Worried about oil's impact on the global recovery, the 28-nation International Energy Agency, which includes the US, has pledged to release 60 million barrels of crude and refined products onto the market in an effort to prevent another price spike. In other Nymex trading for August contracts, heating oil dropped 2.2 cents to $2.9295 per gallon and gasoline futures gave up 1.35 cents to $2.9557 per gallon. Natural gas fell 3.5 cents to $4.358 per 1,000 cubic feet. The 28-nation International Energy Agency, which includes the US, was worried enough about oil's impact on the global recovery that it pledged last week to release 60 million barrels of crude and refined products onto the market in an effort to prevent another price spike. Oil plunged after the IEA announcement. The group said it should more than make up for the loss of Libya's 1.5 million barrels of daily exports. The release is only a temporary fix, however, until additional Saudi crude reaches the market.
