The weekly average oil prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose for a forth week to $57.78 per barrel last week, the Vienna-based cartel said.

OPEC’s average daily prices of crude oil even hit $58.75 a barrel on the last trading day of last week, which went on with the upward trend of the international crude oil prices.

Analysts pointed out that the world economy is expected to touch ground and recover in the near future, which can boost oil prices, however, according to the latest prediction of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world crude oil demand is expected to drop to 83.20 million barrels per day this year, which is 3 percent lower than last year.

It therefore reveals that the recent upward trend of the international oil prices is not due to the rising expectation of the crude oil demand, but the fluctuation of the exchange rate, such as the weakening of U.S. dollars generally believed by market analysts, and the injection of investment capitals.

If the fund proportion of crude oil in its investment portfolio can be further increased, the international oil prices may keep rising, which may arouse buyers’ panic and consequently boost oil prices, market analysts also noted.

However, the international disturbance from the nuclear test carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the crude oil quota to be discussed in OPEC’s Ministerial Conference later this week all may slightly cool down this week’s prices.

(Rigzone & Xinhua)