September 16, 2006	Saturday	Sha'aban 22, 1427

LONDON, Sept 15: World oil prices dropped on Friday, hitting a near six-month low in New York, after Opec said world oil demand was weaker than expected in the first half of 2006.

Crude futures had risen slightly earlier on Friday ahead of the Opec report.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, slid 71 cents to $62.51 per barrel in pit trading. It dropped on Friday to as low as $62.03 -- the lowest point since March 22.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery tumbled $1.05 to $62.49 per barrel in electronic trading.

Brent’s October contract expired on Thursday, priced at $62.24.

That came after it fell to $61.96 at one point Thursday -- the lowest level since March 23.

“World oil demand growth in 2006 has been revised down by 0.1 million barrels per day since the last MOMR (Opec monthly report) to stand at 1.2 million barrels per day,” the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its September report on world oil markets.

—AFP