By Xinhua,
Vienna : The weekly average oil price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hit a new high of $102.57 per barrel last week, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.
The price was $1.23 higher than the last recorded $101.34 per barrel in the second week of March.
It reversed a three-week downward trend, which saw weekly average prices at $99.40 per barrel in the third week of March.
The head of OPEC’s petroleum market analysis department, Mohammad Alipour-Jeddi, said last Saturday that global oil demand would soften in the upcoming months.
He insisted that the market was well-supplied and the warming weather as well as the negative effect of the high oil prices would lead to a fall in demand.
Experts, however, still point out that prices will keep rising mainly due to the weak dollar.