LONDON, May 04, 2012 (AFP) - Oil prices slid on Friday as traders awaited crucial US payrolls figures which will shed further light on the economic health of the world's biggest crude consuming nation.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June tumbled to a three-month low at $114.63 a barrel. It later pulled back to stand at $114.94 in London midday deals, down $1.14 from Thursday's closing level.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June, sank $1.27 to $101.27 a barrel.
Traders were eagerly awaiting Friday's publication of the US non-farm payroll figures. Economists expect the report -- which includes data on both the private and public sectors -- to show the economy created a meagre 162,000 jobs last month and that unemployment remained at 8.2 percent.
"Today, US labour market data are likely to be the focus of attention," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
"If they turn out to be disappointing, the (oil) price corrections (downward) we have seen over the past two days can be expected to continue."
He added: "The poorer US economic data from the past two days have sparked doubts that oil demand will recover in the US, the world's largest consumer of oil. Furthermore, the current supply surplus is weighing on prices."
World oil markets witnessed rollercoaster trade this week as investors tracked the global economic outlook.
Crude futures had ticked lower Monday as investors fretted over Spain's double-dip recession and deepening fears that the eurozone's fourth-largest economy might be the next to need a massive bailout.
The market then surged in New York on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected industrial data in the US and China, which are the world's top energy consumers.
However, prices pulled back by the middle of the week after official data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in US crude oil stockpiles and a slowdown in American hiring, sparking concerns about the economy.
Oil prices slumped further on Thursday after fresh data showed a slowdown in the all important services sector of the US economy during April.
An indication by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that it wanted to scale prices down to sustainable levels was also bearing down on the market.
"We are not happy with prices at this time," said Abdullah El-Badri, OPEC's secretary general, at an energy conference in Paris on Thursday.
"There is speculation on the market. We have plenty of oil on the market and we are working to bring the prices down," he added ahead of the cartel's next scheduled production meeting in Vienna next month.
OPEC's largest producer Saudi Arabia has previously pledged to ensure sufficient supplies to cover the shortfall caused by Western sanctions on Iranian crude, as well as disruptions caused by Libya's civil war in 2011.
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