OPEC’s crude oil barrel exceeds $91

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the rate of crude oil barrel, according to the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB), settled at $91.27, exceeding the $90 barrier for the first time since 2008, when prices hit $94.45. The ORB comprises 12 types of crude oil: Basra Light (Iraq), Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Iran), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (United Arab Emirates) and BCF 17 (Venezuela). The ORB is a weighted average of prices for petroleum blends produced by OPEC countries. It is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices. 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. The OPEC members had decided at the end of their 185th extraordinary ministerial meeting in the Ecuadorian capital Quito to extend the current ceiling of production unchanged. Iraqi Minister of Oil Abdulkareem al-Leiebi, on the sidelines of the OPEC ministers’ meeting in Cairo on December 25, 2010, had said that Iraq targets the production of three million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2011. AmR (S) 38