Crude drops below $74/bl

Oil prices declined in Asian hours today as a UN-brokered truce and the eventual deployment of an international force in Lebanon sparked hopes of an end to the bloodshed, dealers said.

At 11:35 am (0905 IST), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, was at $73.70 dollars per barrel, down 65 cents from its close of $74.35 dollars in the United States on Friday.