Vienna - After dropping to 36.67 dollars at the end of last week, the basket price of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recovered slightly Monday, the cartel said Tuesday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at 37.54 dollars at the start of the week, 0.87 dollars higher than last Friday, the Vienna-based cartel said.

The last time that the OPEC average price stood below 40 dollars was in February 2005. (dpa)