国际英语新闻：OPEC oil prices edge slightly higher

VIENNA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The weekly average price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose only one cent to 68.1 U.S. dollars per barrel last week, said the Vienna-based cartel Monday.

    On the first trading day of last week, OPEC oil prices dropped 1.74 dollars to 66.47 dollars on Monday.

    However, the price rebounded in the next few days, rising to 70.27 dollars per barrel on Thursday.

    OPEC's daily oil price rose 3 percent compared with the beginning of the week, mainly due to a decline in U.S. inventories of crude oil and a weakening U.S. dollar.

    The U.S. dollar rebounded slightly Friday after a nearly one-year low. As a result, the international crude oil prices slid slightly, while the OPEC price did not react due to the weekend.

    According to OPEC's latest monthly report, released last Tuesday, the demand of OPEC crude oil will drop from 28.52 million barrels this year to about 28.06 million barrels in 2010.

    Kuwait's representative to OPEC Mohammd Shati told the media Friday that OPEC may cut oil supplies next year. By the end of last year, OPEC had cut a total of 4.2 million barrels per day to boost the sliding oil prices.

    Market analysts said, although confidence about a global economic recovery was increasing, the real recovery had not begun. In the near future, the world oil market would not see any substantial growth in demand.