Oil fell to the lowest level in almost four months in New York on doubts that a German willingness to compromise on the Greek debt crisis will settle markets and spur economic growth. Futures pared an earlier loss of 3 percent as German Chancellor Angela Merkel moderated previous conditions for supporting a Greek rescue plan. Oil is down 5.7 percent this week as data showed U.S. manufacturers turned pessimistic in June and demand for diesel declined. “There are still a lot of questions about the Greek bailout and what that will mean for the demand picture,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “The oil market seems more skeptical about the debt crisis than the equity market. A lot of technical damage was done to the market this week.” Crude oil for July delivery dropped $1.30, or 1.4 percent, to $93.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract touched $92.12, the lowest price since Feb. 22. The market is heading for the biggest weekly decline in six weeks. Brent oil for August delivery dropped 95 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $113.07 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The price is 44 percent higher than a year ago. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary estimate for June may show U.S. confidence eased to 74 from 74.3 at the end of the previous month, according to economists in a Bloomberg News survey. “Commodity markets are still pricing in the negative economic outlook,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

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