The price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of 11 crudes stood at 57.63 US dollars a barrel last week, down 0.50 dollar from a week earlier, showed statistics from the OPEC Secretariat.

The OPEC average price of crude oil in September was 57.88 dollars a barrel, 0.06 dollar higher than that in August. The average price in the first nine months this year was 49.94 dollars per barrel.

The OPEC decision on Sept. 20 to provide 2 million extra barrels of oil a day when necessary did not produce a sound effect on curbing oil prices. The international oil prices continue to stay high.

Since Aug. 1, the OPEC oil price had stood above 55 dollars a barrel, while on Sept. 20-30, the price rose above 57 dollars a barrel.

Reports said that currently 97.8 percent of crude production, 79.4 percent of natural gas production and 18 percent of refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico have not been recovered due to the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

It is estimated that tropical storm Stan, which is developing into a hurricane, will not seriously affect the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the supply of heating fuel in the northern hemisphere in the coming months will remain a focus of market attention.

Source: Xinhua