An employee of a new petrol station cleans fuel pumps in preparation of the upcoming opening of its branch in Manila April 16, 2008. Crude oil futures rose nearly 2 U.S. dollars a barrel on Friday to close at a new record high of 116.69 dollars a barrel on news about pipeline sabotage in Nigeria.   (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    VIENNA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The weekly average oil price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) set a new peak record of 106.36 U.S. dollars per barrel (dpb) last week, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.

    During last week, the daily prices kept rising along and reached a peak record of 107.75 dpb Friday. So far have the daily prices five times recorded in five consecutive trading days and surged nearly 4 percent higher.

    The prices were 104.02 dpb on Monday, 105.73 dpb on Tuesday, 106.65 dpb on Wednesday and surpassed 107 dollars on Thursday. It went 0.12 dollars higher on Friday and led to a weekly jump of 3.73 dollars.

    Abdullah el al-Badri, the general secretary of OPEC, said Sunday that the current prices could not reflect the fundamental situation.

    The OPEC chief said the organization "will not hesitate" to increase production if the group thought the higher prices were due to shortages. But he said more oil will not solve the high prices.

    The president of OPEC, Chakib Khelil, said Sunday too, that the weak dollar was still the main booster, "If dollars drop 1 percent, the oil prices would surge about 4 percent higher," he worried.

    He also insisted that the market was well-supplied and there is no need for an immediate increase of oil output. Other factors as geopolitical crisis, natural disasters, speculations and the warming weather should also be considered.

Weak dollar not sole reason for high oil prices

    VIENNA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- OPEC's average daily oil prices have set records 16 times since the beginning of this year and soared to 106.65 U.S. dollars per barrel (dpb) Wednesday, the Vienna-based cartel said Thursday.

    Oil prices have surged higher since 2007 and regularly hit new peaks, so that price breaking is no longer news but a "routine" matter.

    International oil market analysts attribute the high prices mainly to the large amount of speculation in the commodity market, inspired by the weak dollar.  Full story

OPEC to maintain world oil demand forecast

    VIENNA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- World oil demand this year is forecast to grow by 1.2 million barrels daily to an average of 87 million barrels per day, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Tuesday.

    The forecast maintains OPEC's estimation last month, despite soaring global oil prices. Full Story 

Peru confirms over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves

    LIMA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Petro-Tech Peruana oil company on Wednesday confirmed reserves of 1.132 billion barrels of high quality oil off the coasts of the Peruvian provinces of Piura and Lambayaque.

    Exploration chief of the Argentine capital Petro-Tech Peruana oil enterprise, Enrique Gonzalez, said that the San Miguel oil well alone, in Piura, has 323 million barrels of oil. Full Story

Dollar mixed against major currencies

    New York, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The dollar was lower against the pound but higher against the euro and other major currencies on Thursday.

    Weak economic data has put fresh pressures on the dollar. The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Full Story