In a speech before members of the American Trucking Associations, former British Prime Minister John Major said he expected oil to drop to close to $20 a barrel within the next six months.

Like the truckers who recently took action in other countries, the National Owner Operator Trucking Association hopes its upcoming trucker convoy to the nation’s capital will force U.S. officials to hear their concerns.

The price of crude oil continued to drop in Friday afternoon trading, falling 51 cents to $35.55 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as Arab nations reiterated their promises that recent violence in the region will not affect production.

Crude oil prices dropped for the first time in six sessions in Friday’s trading, due in part to expectations that tensions in the Middle East will begin to calm somewhat, Bloomberg reports.

As violence exploded in several parts of the oil-rich Middle East Thursday, so did crude oil prices on world commodity markets.

Truckers continued to disrupt traffic with fuel protests in several nations last week, while the European Union and the International Energy Agency continued to search for ways to deal with high fuel costs.

Dramatic trucker protests over fuel costs continued on three continents last week, as Europe considered tapping its own large oil reserves to help force prices down after President Clinton ordered a release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

American Trucking Associations President Walter B. McCormick Jr. took his case for trucking industry relief from soaring fuel prices to two of the nation’s leading media venues Thursday, The Washington Post and cable news channel CNBC.