The weekly average oil price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rebounded, after declining for two consecutive weeks, to 67.88 U.S. dollars per barrel, the 12-nation cartel said on Monday.

The price went up by 2.13 dollars per barrel.

However, the oil price still remained below the 70 dollar-mark.

The OPEC weekly average price exceeded 60 dollars a barrel at the end of May and it stayed above 70 dollars for four weeks in a row in August. Since September, however, the price fell below 70 dollars and had been fluctuating between 65.75 and 68.40 dollars.

Analysts believe that the oil price fluctuation for a certain period of time reflects, to some extent, the fact that the global economic recession is bottoming out and the market is awaiting a clear sign of economic recovery.

The fluctuation also meant that the international market insists on basic judgments in increasing demands for crude oil.

Some, however, warned that such a market analysis tends to be cautiously optimistic.

A recent Energy Information Administration (EIA) report has forecast that global average demand for crude oil this year would fall by 1.78 million barrels a day.

In August, the global demand fell by 1.71 million barrels a day, according to the statistical office of the U.S. Energy Department.

The same EIA forecast put fourth quarter-demand this year at 84.48 million barrels a day, an increase of 0.3 percent compared to the same period of last year, which would be an increase in the international oil market for the first time over the last 15 months.

The world daily average oil demand next year was projected to rise to 84.77 million barrels, up from 83.67 million barrels this year.

Some market analysts expected OPEC countries to continue to increase their output to keep in line with the expected global economic recovery, coupled with an increase in demand driven by the advent of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Unless oil prices decline dramatically, the relationship between an adequate supply and an increasing market demand should remain unchanged for a while.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2009)