Oil prices drop by one dollar amid speculative selling

After peaking to US$77 a barrel earlier in the day, oil prices dropped by almost one dollar per barrel, amid speculative selling. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell to US$74.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude settled at US$75.18 a barrel Thursday on the ICE Futures exchange in London. The oil market's afternoon reversal couldn't be tied to any of the usual fundamental price movement theories.