Oil prices slip after breaching $78

The price of oil fell Friday on profit-taking after striking a
year-high above 78 dollars in a strong week for crude futures,
traders said.    Prices have climbed steadily in recent trading
sessions, buoyed by a weak dollar that has bolstered investor risk
appetite for hard assets such as oil.    New York's main contract,
light sweet crude for November delivery, hit 78.17 dollars a barrel
in Asian trading hours—the highest level since October 14, 2008 —
after official data showed a pick-up for US gasoline demand.    It
later pulled back to stand at 77.33 dollars, down 23 cents compared
with Thursday's closing level.    Brent North Sea crude for December
delivery dropped 40 cents to 75.83 dollars a barrel in early London
trade on Friday.    'Crude prices were trading a little lower ... due
to profit taking,' said Sucden Financial Research analyst Nimit
Khamar.    'The recent price rise has been very impressive and markets
could well test 80 dollars but in our opinion a correction next week
is the likely scenario to back below 75 dollars and even to the low
70s given oil fundamentals remain poor, global inventories are still
high and demand recovery is far from convincing.'    A US government
report published Thursday showed gasoline, or petrol, stocks fell by
5.2 million barrels in the country last week. Analysts polled by Dow
Jones Newswires had expected a rise of 700,000 barrels.    The fall
in gasoline stocks indicates rising demand and tightening supplies,
supporting prices, traders said.    US crude reserves meanwhile rose
by 400,000 barrels last week, lower than most analysts' expectations
for a gain of 600,000 barrels.