Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 7
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Each barrel of Iran's heavy oil sold for $42.55 in the week to Feb. 2, $1.76 more compared to preceding week.
The price of light oil also increased by $1.51 per each barrel and stood at $45.3 in the same period, the country's oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported Feb. 7.
The price of OPEC basket of twelve crude oils stood at $44.83 in the same period.
OPEC oil basket price increased to 50.81 a barrel on Feb. 5.
OPEC's oil basket price was $107.89 in mid-June, but has been in dramatic decline, especially since October 2014.
OPEC members held a meeting in ministerial level November 27, 2014 to evaluate the global oil market and the falling trend of the oil price. Iran and Venezuela wanted to lower the Cartel's oil output and set a new ceiling level below the current 30 mbpd level.
OPEC said that the demand for the organization's crude is estimated at 29.1 mbpd in 2014. In 2015, the figure is estimated to reach 28.8 mbpd.
Iran is expected to face a budget deficit in the current Iranian fiscal year (to end March 20, 2015), due to the sharp fall in oil prices. Iran's current year budget envisages the price of $100 per barrel of oil.
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