Oil prices slipped lower, pressured by a...

Oil prices slipped lower, pressured by a report that Iran may be interested in negotiating an end to its war with Iraq in the Persian Gulf. At the United Nations, Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said Iran has agreed to discuss with him implementation of a U.N. plan to end the war. He said he will travel to both nations to discuss the idea. The news stirred a wave of selling after a session that had been otherwise sleepy, as traders looked ahead to the three-day holiday weekend. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, contracts for October delivery of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude, closed at $19.32 per 42-gallon barrel, down 18 cents from Thursday.