OPEC basket price up $0.18 to settle at $104.58 per barrel

The OPEC daily basket price went up USD 0.18 on Tuesday to stand at USD 104.58 a barrel compared with USD 104.40 a barrel last Monday, the cartel said Wednesday. The average OPEC basket price last year was at USD 105.85 a barrel, it added. During the OPEC oil ministers' meeting in early December, a decision was made to keep the crude output production for member states at 30 million oil barrels a day in order to ensure a stable and balanced oil market. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: 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).