OPEC weekly oil price falls

The weekly average oil price of OPEC fell to 82.03 U.S. dollars per barrel last week, the first decline in three weeks, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.

During the last five trading days, the OPEC (or Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) daily average oil price kept falling from 83.39 dollars per barrel on Monday to 81.09 on Thursday, but it rebounded slightly to 81.41 dollars on Friday.

Although the news that Ireland would seek international assistance to deal with its banking and budget crisis brings hope, the new round of debt crisis in Europe casts a shadow on the process of economic recovery in Europe.

In addition, the Chinese government raised interest rate. It is expected that China's overheated economy will slow down as further interest rate increases may follow.

Contrary to the Chinese factor, America's quantitative easing monetary policy will depress the value of the U.S. dollar, thus pushing up oil prices.
(Source:xinhua)