Oil continues falling on European debt concerns

U.S. crude oil price continued falling on Friday as concerns about European debt crisis lingered. The European Central Bank (ECB) bought bonds in the secondary market to help some of the debt-burdened countries. But European debt crisis was far from addressed as the major players in this region were widely divided in how to tackle the crisis. Germany and France, two euro zone powerhouses, disagreed with each other on the role of ECB. And Britain also had different views. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday warned against expecting too much from the region's leaders, while British Prime Minister David Cameron advocated "decisive action" to guard the bloc's common currency. Political uncertainties kept making investors nervous. Besides, there was technical selling signal as many investors WTI grew too fast earlier this week. In the United States, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose 0.9 percent for Oct., beating analysts' estimates and indicating U.S. economy may pick up in the coming months. But investors kept cautious eyes on the new round debt debate in the Super Committee, fearing of risks if there would be no deal before Thanksgiving. On Friday, BNP Paribas raised its oil price forecast for 2012, predicting WTI price would reach 104 dollars a barrel, up from previous forecast of 101 dollars. But it left Brent forecast unchanged at 116 dollars a barrel. Light, sweet crude for Dec. delivery slipped 1.41 dollars, or 1. 43 percent to settle at 97.41 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. And in London, Brent crude for Jan. delivery also dropped and last traded around 107 dollars a barrel.