NEW YORK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Crude futures dropped sharply Monday as fears of a conflict in the Middle East eased over the weekend.

    Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 3.92 U.S. dollars to settle at 141.37 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

    The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday that he hopes to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator later this month. According to Iranian state media's report on Friday, EU and Iran have agreed to take a series of talks during the second half of July over Iran's nuclear program. Last week the concern about the tension in the Middle East has driven up the oil price and a record high of 145.29 dollars a barrel was reached on Thursday.

    OPEC President Chakib Khelil Sunday told an energy conference in Algiers that the weak dollar should be blamed for the recent increase of oil prices. He said he believes that the series of interest rate cuts in the past year has resulted in the falling of the dollar against other major currencies.

    In London, Brent crude for August delivery dropped 2.55 dollars to settle at 141.87 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Rapid oil rise stirs talk of $200 a barrel this year      

   WASHINGTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Oil's historic ascent from 100 U.S. dollars to nearly 150 dollars a barrel in just six months is lending weight to a far grimmer prediction that Crude could reach 200 dollars a barrel by the end of the year.Full story

OPEC weekly prices surge over $138

    VIENNA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The weekly average prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) surged 6.71 dollars higher to 138.31 U.S. dollars per barrel (dpb) last week, said the Vienna-based cartel Monday. Full story