Oil prices have slipped in an unpredictable trade market and over declining economic growth in the US, the world's top energy consumer. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery fell 1.54 dollars to close at 65.96 dollars per barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for December lost 1.76 dollars to settle at 63.71 dollars.
The US economy contracted at a 0.3 percent annualized pace in the third quarter as a global credit crunch saw consumers and businesses cut back on spending.
The decline, not as steep as the 0.5 percent annualized drop expected by private economists, comes amid mounting expectations of a sharp falloff in the US economy amid the worst banking and financial crisis in decades. Oil prices have dipped as the market has focused on the negative fallout from a global financial crisis on energy demand.