Crude oil slides on manufacturing news

Crude oil prices slipped to less than $95 a barrel Wednesday, with prices undercut by a string of weak manufacturing data. The Institute of Supply Management said Tuesday U.S. manufacturing declined for a third month in August. On Wednesday, Markit said the Purchasing Managers Index for Europe fell in August from 47.5 percent to 47.2 percent. Traders also learned Wednesday China's PMI for service-oriented businesses dropped to a 12-month low. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October delivery lost 75 cents to $94.55 per barrel. Natural gas shed 4.3 cents to $2.811 per million British thermal units. Home heating oil gave up 2.16 cents to $3.1252 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gave up 0.36 cents to $2.9486 per gallon. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was unchanged at $3.824 per gallon Wednesday, AAA reported.