Oil prices drop, notching weekly loss

NEW YORK, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell on Friday, suffering a loss for the week.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery dropped 1.33 U.S. dollars, or 1.6 percent, to settle at 79.68 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery lost 81 cents, or 0.9 percent, to close at 86.66 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

"It looks that traders rushed to take some profits off the table ahead of the weekend," Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire, said on Friday.

For the week, the WTI dipped 2.4 percent, while Brent lost 1.1 percent, based on the front-month contracts.