The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)'s average crude oil price continued to drop after hitting the historic high of 71.71 U.S. dollars per barrel on July 14, the cartel's secretariat said on Monday.

OPEC's average crude oil price dropped 3.25 dollars and dipped to 68.46 dollars per barrel last Friday.

Market analysts attribute the drop to the Middle East mission of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which aims to mediate the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Furthermore, the investors' arbitrage amid the increase of the U.S. gasoline stock also helped to drive the oil prices lower.

Analysts added that Rice's mediation will mitigate worries about the conflict in the Middle East, and the oil prices will stabilize at a high level in the next trading days.

However,they believed that the international oil market will still be sensible to the situation in the Middle East, and the oil prices in the coming days will depend on the development of the conflict.

Some analysts forecasted that the international oil price will fall down to 70 dollars per barrel if gunfire stops.

The escalation of the military conflict in the Middle East is the main reason for the soaring international oil prices recently.

Ali Naimi, minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, said last Sunday that OPEC will try to avoid the negative effects of high oil prices on the world economy.

On account of the overnight oil prices, OPEC will not decide to cut its current output at the next minister conference in Vienna on Sept. 1, a senior official of the Iranian Oil Ministry said on Monday.

Source: Xinhua