Oil price slips in Asia

Oil price slips in Asia

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Crude prices in Asia weakened on Thursday as major oil consumer the United States stepped up pressure on producers to relax export curbs soon.

May New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) crude futures traded at $27.30 by 0740 GMT, falling 16 cents from the settlement in New York, where the contract had ended 35 cents lower.

The United States, which consumes a fifth of the world's oil, on Wednesday approved legislation reaffirming President Bill Clinton's authority to cut off U.S. aid and arms sales to oil cartel OPEC and nations that fix oil prices.

The legislation would not give the president new authority to punish OPEC, but would encourage him to use his existing powers to confront the producer group over its output policies by reducing or terminating U.S. aid and arms sales.

"We're putting pressure on the OPEC nations," said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, the New York Republican who sponsored the legislation.