The weekly average price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil price rose by 1.32 U.S. dollars per barrel in the last week of 2011, the Vienna-based cartel said here on Monday.

Weekly OPEC oil price stood at 107.35 U.S. dollars in the trading week ending on December 30.

Latest economic figures such as the U.S. third-quarter economic growth, household consumption and employment rate released in late December 2011 suggested a U.S. economic recovery which still remained weak.

In the meantime, prospects for the eurozone debt crisis remained unoptimistic. Analysts predicted that Europe would have a relatively difficult year in 2012, and that the possibility of stagnation or even a mild recession of its overall economy is increasing.

All of the above factors have been imposing pressure on the international crude oil market.

However, increasingly intense rows between Iran and the Western countries and unstable domestic situation of the Middle East oil producers such as Nigeria and Syria have prevented the decline of oil prices.

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