Crude oil futures plunged for a fifth consecutive session today, recording the steepest weekly decline since early May. Data that continued to point toward a slacking economic recovery seemed to have frightened investors.

The front-month contract, for August delivery, traded US81 cents, or 1.1 per cent, lower at $US72.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
August North Sea Brent crude edged down US69c (1 per cent) to $US71.65 a barrel.

Fears of a double-dip recession burdened oil prices all week, and two US economic reports released today did not improve the situation.

Oil's 8 per cent decline this week comes ahead of the US July 4 holiday weekend, which usually sees strong gasoline demand as Americans hit the roads for vacation. Forecasts for a rise in fuel consumption this weekend have not eliminated pressure from disappointing economic news.

"I wouldn't expect gasoline demand to have any real impact in supporting prices," said Tom Bentz, broker and analyst at BNP Paribas in New York.

"Gasoline demand has been pretty strong, but inventories still remain high across the board. The main driver right now has been the economic situation."

US gasoline inventories are higher than usual for this time of year. Gasoline usage directs demand in the US, the world's largest oil consumer, and analysts say it is closely correlated with employment statistics. High unemployment suggests that fewer miles are driven for trips. Even though June payrolls in the US came in close to predictions, private-sector companies employed fewer people than projected for a second-straight month.

Benchmark gasoline futures went down by nearly US2c to $US1.9777 a gallon. This is the first time since December that the gasoline contract decreased for five days in a row. It is also the longest string of reductions going into the July 4 holiday since 1986.