VIENNA, Jul. 19, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- The weekly average prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rebounded slightly last week, reaching 72.93 U.S. dollars per barrel, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.
Generally speaking, there were no big changes on the oil market compared to the previous week.
OPEC's last weekly oil price fluctuated within a small range of less than 2 dollars. It dropped firstly from 72.79 dollars a barrel to 72 dollars last Monday, which was followed by an increase for two consecutive days, reaching 73.93 dollars last Wednesday.
Afterwards, it declined again, finally dropping back to 72.89 dollars a barrel last Friday.
It was generally agreed that the unfavorable U.S. economic figures increased the pressure on the global crude oil market. The U.S. Labor Department figures showed the U.S. seasonally adjusted consumer price index (CPI) fell continually for the third month of 0.1 percent in June.
Moreover, the euro exchange rate against U.S. dollar fell again after hitting a new high of two months, making dollar-denominated crude oil expensive again to buyers in non-dollar areas, which to a certain extent suppresses the market demand.
Analysts believe that the global oil market has a temporary equilibrium. The oil prices will continue its slight fluctuation in the near future.
