Business

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

This March 9, 2010 file photo shows a tanker truck driving by the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, Calif. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Paul Sakuma

The price of oil slipped below US$92 a barrel on Monday as closely watched surveys showed the global economy remains weak.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down 47 cents at US$91.72 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 34 cents to finish at US$92.19 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In London, Brent crude was down 79 cents to US$111.60 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Japan's central bank on Monday released a survey that shows deepening pessimism over the economy among the country's big manufacturers. The Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" index was minus three, a worsening from the previous quarter's minus one.

The survey showed pessimism over the prospects for both domestic and global demand given weak growth in China, the U.S. and Europe.

Meanwhile, a survey by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said its monthly index of manufacturing activity stood at 49.8 points on a 100-point scale. Numbers below 50 indicate a contraction. China's economic growth fell to a three-year low of 7.6 per cent in the quarter ended in June.

Concerns that Spain's debt rating may be downgraded from investment grade to junk status added to the negative mood. Spain, which has the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, is coping with its second recession in three years and has an unemployment rate near 25 per cent.

Traders are now looking to upcoming jobs data out of the U.S. for a read on the health of the world's No. 1 economy.

"With Wednesday's presidential debates and the approaching election, we expect all eyes will be on Friday's non-farm payrolls data," said oil analyst Stephen Schork in an email commentary.

In other Nymex energy futures trading, heating oil fell 2.58 cents to US$3.1334 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), wholesale gasoline fell 0.72 of a cent to US$2.9129 a gallon and natural gas rose seven cents to $3.39 per thousand cubic feet.

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