The weekly average prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped slightly to 67.97 U.S. dollars per barrel last week, said the Vienna-based cartel Monday, Xinhua reported.
After almost touching 70 dollars for two weeks, OPEC weekly oil prices dropped again, another failed attempt to exceed the 70-dollar mark.
However, after a decline to 66.61 dollars per barrel on Tuesday, OPEC's average daily oil prices kept rebounding to 69.29 dollars on Friday.
Last week, OPEC hinted a possible production cut at the sixth Ministerial-level meeting of EU and OPEC on Tuesday in Vienna and OPEC's crude oil exportation kept declining. In addition, Nigerian anti-government militants assaulted the oil transportation pipelines of this biggest oil producer in Africa, and the crude oil storage declined in the United States, which all boosted oil prices.
However, the prediction that the world crude oil demand is still on the decline, the weakening stock market, and the market's need to digest the previous rapid price rise have imposed some pressure on the oil prices. In addition, the exchange rate adjustment of the U.S. dollars enlarged the fluctuation in oil prices.
Market forecasts that the oil prices may keep fluctuating around 70 dollars per barrel in short term as various factors are influencing the international crude oil prices at the same time.