Light, sweet crude for September delivery was down 15 cents to US$74.28 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude oil prices dipped marginally on Monday after a statement by the Saudi oil minister that OPEC wants to avoid fluctuating prices and as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to the Middle East in an attempt find a diplomatic solution to the violence in Lebanon and Israel.
Rice is to arrive in Israel on Monday in the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since violence erupted, to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She will proceed to Rome for sessions with representatives of European and moderate Arab governments that are meant to shore up the weak democratic government in Lebanon.
24-Jul-06 
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