VIENNA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The weekly average oil price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped to 108.37 U.S. dollars per barrel (dpb) last week, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.

    The price set a historic high of 111.66 dpb on the first trading day and retreated swiftly the following three days by 5.67 dollars to 105.99 dpb Thursday.

    However, the price still remained the second high after the record 110.13 dpb set last week.

    Experts pointed out that the slip of the prices was mainly due to a profit taking in the commodity market.

    Meanwhile, experts also said that non-OPEC oil producer tended to boost output in the short term although OPEC cut its daily output by about 100,000 barrels in April than March, which might ease the current possible oil shortage and lead to a price drop.

    OPEC President Chakib Khelil, who is also Algerian energy minister, said early this week that the prices would hit 200 dpb if the dollars continue to weaken and emphasized that the current price could not reflect the fundamental market.

    Analysts said that the future trend of the price was still mainly based on the U.S. economy and the value of dollar.