Oil prices drop slightly

While most other commodity prices rose on Thursday, the price of crude oil dropped even as one analyst said that prices were being driven by demand growth in China. The senior analyst at Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) said that demand for oil in China will grow 7.2 percent, or 500,000 barrels per day in 2007, keeping oil prices high. He said that demand growth for oil in China has been understated in official data and by the International Energy Agency.

Despite the decline in oil prices on the session, prices for both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude remained above $61 per barrel. Brent April contracts dropped 52 cents to $61.98 per barrel late in the afternoon in London, while WTI for April delivery fell 41 cents to $61.41 per barrel late in the morning on the New York Mercantile Index.