Crude slips almost 2% on debt concerns on Friday

Crude stays steady for the month of July

Crude-oil futures slipped nearly 2% on Friday, 29 July 2011 at Nymex after reports showed that the U.S. economy grew less than expected in the second quarter and as the country's debt concerns stoked worries about energy demand.

Light sweet crude for September delivery lost $1.74, or 1.8%, to $95.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest for a front-month contract in two weeks. It traded as low as $94.95 a barrel on the day.



On the week, oil lost 4.2%. It decreased 0.3% on the month.

Problems in Europe remain front and center as Moody's announced it was placing Spain on review for a possible downgrade, and reports linking Italian Finance Minister Tremonti to the mafia continue to surface.

Ahead of the opening bell on Friday, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at a 1.3% rate in the second quarter, below the 1.6% forecast.

Separately, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan gauge of consumer sentiment fell in July to its lowest level since March 2009.

Among other energy produvts on Friday, August gasoline , a contract that expired at the end of floor trading on Friday, lost less than 1 cent to settle at $3.11 per gallon. On the week, gasoline lost 0.6%. On the month, however, it gained 4.7%.

August heating oil , which also expired Friday, retreated 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $3.10 a gallon. Weekly losses reached 1%, but heating oil also gained on the month, up 5%.

September natural gas was off 10 cents, or 2.3%, to $4.15 per million British thermal units. That brought weekly losses to 5.7%, and monthly losses to 5%.