Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
OPEC crude oil basket price reached $55.97/barrel on Feb.13, the highest level in 2015.
According to OPEC's website, the basket price indicate $3.11 increase day-to-day and $14.47 month-to-month increase.
The statistics don't cover the prices for days after Feb.13, but Brent crude benchmark price reached $62.16 on Feb.16, breaking a new record in 2015. The figure was $47.68 a month ago.
OPEC's oil basket (ORB) is currently made up of the Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), 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 Merey (Venezuela).
The Reference Basket price was $107.89 in mid-June, but has been in dramatic decline, especially since October.
OPEC's latest monthly report released in Feb. 9 says that the cartel's total crude oil output has fallen by about 53,200 bpd in January compared to December, reaching 30.153 mbpd.
The report also says the demand for OPEC crude is estimated at 29.1 mbpd in 2014.
In 2015, required OPEC crude is projected at 29.2 mbpd.
Edited by CN
Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh