By KUNA
Vienna : The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) basket of 12 crudes dropped Monday 35 cents to reach USD 91.38 compared to USD 91.73 the day before, the cartel said on Tuesday.
According to an OPEC bulletin, the average annual price of the basket of 12 crudes last year was USD 69.10 per barrel.
OPEC Reference Basket (ORB), implemented as of 10 September 2007, is currently made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and BCF 17 (Venezuela).
For his part, Algerian Minister of Energy and Chairman of OPEC Chakib Khalil told reporters that the organization may not increase production at its meeting on March 5, indicating that the oil market currently has an adequate supply and there is no reason for an increase.
Khalil added that the organization will study closely the development of the oil market and the situation of supply and demand.
He pointed out that it take into account when making resolutions among other considerations, the market situation, in addition to data and studies prepared by the OPEC Secretariat in this regard.
He declined to comment on whether the organization intends to reduce its production during the forthcoming meeting.