NEW YORK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices plummeted to 64 U.S. dollars a barrel on Monday as investors felt less confident for a speedy recovery of the economy.

    Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 2.68 dollars, or 4.0 percent, to settle at 64.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching a five-week low of 63.40 dollars a barrel. The contract has lost about 8 percent in the first three sessions this month.

    The oil market was still under great pressure of the unemployment data released last week, which showed the unemployment rate climbed to a new 26-year high of 9.5 percent in the United States and a 10-year peak of 9.5 percent in the euro zone countries.

    Meanwhile, investors flooded into the foreign exchange market to seek refuge and push the dollar up for a third day versus the euro, which also encouraged selling in the oil market.

    In London, Brent crude for August delivery dropped 1.56 dollars from Friday's close to 64.05 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. 

OPEC President: crude price best at $68 to 71 per barrel

    BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Angolan Oil Minister and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) president Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos said Friday a crude oil price of68 to 71 U.S. dollars a barrel was the best for a stable industry.

    Vasconcelos told the Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing that the crude price last year reached both its highest point at 141 U.S. dollars per barrel last July and its lowest at 37 U.S. dollars in December.  Full story