Oil futures were slightly lower in thin trade, with volumes dampened by today's US Independence Day holiday. At 9.17 am, August-dated Brent futures contracts were down 6 cents at 57.48 usd a barrel. "Oil prices are still holding on to Friday's gains which were made after hours in electronic trading (in the US) on talk of an impending hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico," said Bache Financial broker Christopher Bellew. The Gulf of Mexico is home to a large percentage of US oil rigs and production was devastated last year due to a series of hurricanes, causing oil prices to rocket. Trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange will be closed today for the holiday. Prices closed higher on Friday at 59.05 usd a barrel. US electronic trading will reopen tonight at 7 pm in the US. "Trading is expected to be thin today, unless of course some major news breaks, in which case there will be a flurry of activity from not only the UK based traders but also American traders who will pile into the UK market," Bellew said.