Rome  - World records continued to tumble on Wednesday at the world swimming championships in Rome as the first half of the evening session saw five records being broken in the first five events.

The oil price of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continued to hover above 70 dollars on Friday, the Vienna-based group reported Monday.

The basket price for one barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude climbed to 70.27 dollars, one cent lower than the previous day. OPEC analysts attribute the recent rise in price to speculation.

Arab stock markets closed a mixed week as investors monitored the movement of crude prices, performance of global markets and the second quarter results of listed firms expected to start coming out early in July, financial analysts said Friday.

The basket price of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) soared to 66.35 dollars Monday, the group announced Tuesday, as positive news about the US economy sent global markets upwards.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude oil gained 2.64 on Monday, reaching its highest price since mid-October of last year.

The basket price of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continued to rise on Thursday, the cartel said Friday, despite OPEC's decision not to lower production.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude oil stood at 61.77 dollars, up 1.02 dollars from the previous day.

The basket price of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose to 57.16 dollars Wednesday, breaking another record for 2009.

One barrel (158 litres) of OPEC-produced crude oil settled 0.40 dollars higher than on the previous day, the Vienna-based group announced Thursday.

While the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Wednesday that global production levels had increased in April, it further lowered its demand projections for the year, owing to the ongoing economic downturn.

The price for oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose further above the 56-dollar mark at the end of last week, the Vienna-based cartel announced Monday.

One barrel (158 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 56.35 dollars Friday, 0.30 dollars more than on the previous day.