Oil prices slipped a bit in lethargic...

Oil prices slipped a bit in lethargic holiday season trading. “There was no news here,” said Bob Baker, an analyst at Prudential-Bache Securities. “Trading was very slow.” On the New York Mercantile Exchange, contracts for February delivery of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude, settled at $16.42 a 42-gallon barrel, down 10 cents from Thursday’s close. Among contracts for January delivery of refined products, wholesale heating oil closed at 51.13 cents a gallon, down 0.12 cent from Thursday, while wholesale unleaded gasoline closed at 43.12 cents a gallon, down 0.31 cent.