By Jerry A. DiColo Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude oil futures slipped Wednesday on a weak piece of economic data and pessimistic sentiment ahead of a report from the Department of Energy on U.S. oil inventories. Light, sweet crude for September delivery recently traded 67 cents, or 0.9%, lower at $76.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 48 cents lower at $75.65 a barrel. Futures were hit early Wednesday by a report from the U.S. Commerce Department that said demand for U.S. manufactured durable goods slid in June for a second consecutive month. The report was taken as another sign that expansion of the manufacturing sector is slowing, and added to the sharp decline in crude prices Tuesday that was due to flagging consumer confidence and a weak report from the Richmond Federal Reserve on the health of manufacturing. As the oil market turns to the weekly oil inventory report from the energy department's Energy Information Administration, due 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday, many market watchers are already pessimistic. Late Tuesday, The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported that U.S. oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week, to 3.1 million barrels, despite the shutdown of some Gulf of Mexico oil production due to Tropical Storm Bonnie. "The durable goods accelerated this down move, but we were already leaning over after the API numbers last night," said Jim Ritterbusch, head of oil research firm Ritterbusch and Associates. "The fact that crude stocks haven't drawn much this summer presents a fundamentally bearish situation." If the more influential EIA data confirms the API report, traders are likely to push crude lower on fears that demand, particularly in the important summer-driving season, remains tepid. Analysts expect a decline of 1.7 million barrels in the EIA data, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The EIA is also expected to report a 500,000-barrel rise in gasoline inventories. Stocks of distillate, which include heating oil and diesel, are expected to rise by 2.1 million barrels. Stockpiles for oil and oil products remain at levels that are much higher than average, reflecting the still-weak demand from consumers and industry amid the slowing economic recovery. Higher stockpiles, combined with mixed economic data, has left oil prices stuck in a range between $70 and $80 a barrel for several weeks as traders try to decipher a hazy outlook for future crude demand. "Oil prices continue to face headwinds against making a move up towards the $80 mark, as softer-than-expected economic data continue to trump fundamental data," said Barclays oil analysts in a note to clients. Front-month August reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 2.07 cents, or 1%, lower at $2.0425 a gallon. August heating oil recently traded 0.91 cent, or 0.5%, lower at $1.9903 a gallon. -By Jerry A. DiColo, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2155; jerry.dicolo@dowjones.com.

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