March 18, 2006	Saturday	Safar 17, 1427

LONDON, March 17: World oil prices dropped on Friday on profit-taking after a volatile week which saw crude futures dip owing to high US crude stocks, and surge on tensions in major energy producers.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, lost 63 cents to $62.95 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, the price of

Brent North Sea crude for May delivery slid 76 cents to $63.45 per barrel in electronic deals. The April contract had expired Thursday at $62.91 per barrel.

Brent’s May contract and New York’s April contract had closed up more than a dollar on Thursday as a massive US-led air assault in Iraq intensified jitters about global supplies of crude, dealers said.

Oil prices skidded lower in Friday trading “on profit-taking from yesterday’s sharp gains on tension in the Middle East”, analysts at the Sucden brokerage said.

“Despite the falls on Friday sentiment remains bullish as the air strikes in Iraq brought back concerns about tension in the Middle East.”

Meanwhile on Friday traders digested news that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries issued a slight downward revision to its 2006 forecast for global oil demand.

Opec now foresees an increase of 1.8 per cent to 84.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for next year rather than the 84.64 million bpd predicted in February.—AFP