VIENNA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The weekly average oil prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped to 61.53 U.S. dollars per barrel (dpb) last week, the lowest price since the end of March 2007, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.

    Market analysts say that in addition to weak demand, the recent evident appreciation of the U.S. dollar is another important factor for the dive in the dollar-quoted international oil prices.

    OPEC decided to slash daily production by 1.5 million barrels at Friday's emergency meeting in a bid to maintain prices, saying further cuts are possible if the Friday attempt fails.

    International oil prices continued to fall after OPEC's Friday meeting.

    According to some analysts, the ongoing downturn in the global stock markets, which are a barometer of the economy in the eyes of crude oil dealers, is playing a major role in pushing down oil prices and rendering OPEC's actions largely ineffective.

    Other analysts said OPEC's output decrease Friday was too small.