Crude prices slipped Friday lead by plummeting gasoline price, as traders hurried to cash in profits.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 55 cents to settle at 66.24 dollars a barrel. Unleaded gasoline plummeted 11.35 cents a gallon to 2.1381 dollars per gallon as refiners focused on the motor fuel at the expense of heating oil and high prices eroded demand. US gasoline demand over the past four weeks has averaged nearly 3 percent lower than during the same period a year ago.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange,Brent crude for November fell 36 cents to settle at 63.48 dollars a barrel.

US gasoline demand over the past four weeks has averaged nearly 3 percent lower than during the same period a year ago.

More than 7 percent of annual oil production and more than 5 percent of annual natural gas production have been shuttered since Katrina hit.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, half of the 16 refineries in the U.S. Gulf area,shut down ahead of Hurricane Rita had yet to restart as of Thursday, according to the EIA. In addition to those, there are four refineries in the New Orleans area still shut down following Hurricane Katrina.

In total, the shutdowns are costing over 3 million barrels a day of refining capacity, including 1.5 million barrels a day of gasoline, 800,000 barrels of distillate fuel and 400,000 barrels of jet fuel.

Source: Xinhua