OPEC oil price hits lowest level

Weekly average prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) declined to 105.48 US dollars per barrel last week from 106.74 dollars the week before, hitting its lowest level in the past 5 weeks, the the Vienna-based cartel said on Monday. It was the third consecutive weekly decline of the OPEC Basket Price, which is somewhat affected by the economic contraction in the eurozone and uncertainty of the world economy in 2013, as well as a rise in the world oil supply. The share of OPEC crude oil in global supply continued to drop, accounting for only 34 percent of the world's total in November. The OPEC agreed on Wednesday to keep the cartel's oil production limit of 30 million barrels per day, in order to maintain the world oil market balance The OPEC Reference Basket Price might continue its downward trend in future weeks, given the decrease of oil demands in the eurozone and further increase of the world supply.