Oil prices ease in Asia

SINGAPORE: World oil prices slipped in Asian trade Tuesday ahead of a key OPEC meeting in Vienna amid mixed production signals from the cartel's members, dealers said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery dropped 55 cents to 105.79 US dollars a barrel from 106.34 dollars at the close of floor trading Monday in the US. Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell 14 cents to 103.30 dollars. Crude prices rose to record levels above 147 dollars in July but have fallen in recent weeks on growing worries that a US-led global slowdown will eventually crimp the appetite for energy.