NEW YORK, Aug 20, 2010 (AFP) — World oil prices fell Friday for the third straight session amid worries that weakening growth in the United States could curtail energy demand.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September, shed 97 cents to US$73.46 per barrel.

London’s Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October dropped US$1.04 to US$74.26 a barrel.

Crude oil prices have remained under pressure near six-week lows, said Myrto Sokou, an analyst at Sucden Financial Research.

“The energy market is looking out of breath and momentum, and it is likely that crude oil prices will possibly see a second week of heavy losses,” she added.

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday in response to a batch of weak data which sparked fresh fears about the US economic recovery.

The US government said the number of Americans filing new weekly claims for jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly to 500,000, the highest level in nine months, threatening recovery hopes.

Market sentiment was dampened on Wednesday by news of a lower-than-expected fall in US crude reserves.

US crude reserves fell 800,000 barrels in the week ending August 13, less than forecast, official figures showed. Gasoline (petrol) inventories were flat, while analysts had predicted a drop of 500,000 barrels.

“Fears about the economy are not good for oil. As total petroleum supplies rise to all time highs it can only mean one thing and that is demand is falling far below supply,” analyst Phil Flynn of PFG Best Research said.