The price of the organization of Petroleum Exporting countries basket of 12 crudes stood at 18.07 Dollars a barrel on Thursday compared with 81.51 Dollars the previous day, according to OPEC secretariat calculations.
The new OPEC Reference basket of crudes (ORB) is made up of the following : Algeria’s Saharan Blend, Angola’s Girassol, Ecuador’s Oriente, Iran’s Heavy, Iraq’s Basra Light, Kuwait Export, Es Sider from Libya, Nigeria’s Bonny Light, Qatar Marine, Saudi Arabia’s Arab Light, Murban from the UAE and Merey from Venezuela.
What is the meaning of OPEC Reference Basket?
The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB), also referred to as the OPEC Basket is a weighted
average of prices for petroleum blends produced by OPEC countries. It is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices.
On June 15, 2005 the OPEC basket was changed to reflect the characteristics of the oil produced by OPEC members. The Reference Basket currently consists of a weighted average of the following blends of oil:
Saharan Blend (from Algeria)
Minas (from Indonesia)
Iran Heavy (from Islamic Republic of Iran)
Basra Light (from Iraq)
Kuwait Export (from Kuwait)
Es Sider (from Libya)
Bonny Light (from Nigeria)
Qatar Marine (from Qatar)
Arab Light (from Saudi Arabia)
Murban (from UAE)
BCF 17 (from Venezuela)
OPEC attempts to keep the price of the OPEC Basket between upper and lower limits, by increasing and decreasing production. This makes the measure important for market analysts. The OPEC Basket, including a mix of light and heavy crudes, is heavier than both Brent crude oil, and West Texas Intermediate crude oil.
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