The weekly average oil prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) topped 119 U.S. dollars and a new weekly price record of 119.08 dollars per barrel (dpb) has been set, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.

  The prices set a daily record of 119.65 dpb last Monday and retreated swiftly to 118.76 dpb Tuesday. Then, the prices slightly rose from 118.76 dpb to 119.27 dpb in the following three trading days.

Rafael Correa, president of OPEC's smallest producer Ecuador, said late Thursday that the cartel should increase its output, because "all the poorest countries" which are oil importers were hit by the high prices disaster.

The second largest producer of OPEC Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said Saturday however that the current output rise by 300,000 barrels per day was a "political move" and could only "help to increase reserves."

He therefore insisted that no output increase be needed for the cartel and blamed the weak dollar and other factors outside OPEC's control for the high oil prices.

Experts attributed the high prices to the uncertainty about the future output of OPEC and current speculations in the oil market, pointing out that the prices would continue rising in the short run.

OPEC forecasted Thursday in its monthly report a lower daily average global oil demand of 86.95 million barrels for the year 2008.

The previous prognosis of OPEC on the global oil demand was 86.97 million barrels a day.

Source: Xinhua