The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $43.18 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $42.75 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.
The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Rabi Light (Gabon), 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 Merey (Venezuela).
Meanwhile, oil prices rose 1.5 percent on Wednesday as the market focused on the possibility that the world’s top producers would agree on an output freeze.
Trade was choppy as some traders eyed U.S. oil inventory data due late Wednesday and Thursday morning for clearer direction.
Brent futures rose 72 cents to settle at $47.98 a barrel after trading between $46.97 and $48.10.
U.S. crude traded between $44.55 and $45.58 before finishing 67 cents higher on the day at $45.50. That was a third day of gains in a row for the U.S. futures.
Oil hit a one-week high on Monday after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to cooperate on stabilizing the oil market. Prices have since fallen due to uncertainty over a deal, particularly after a meeting in Doha in April among the world’s largest producers to discuss output ended in failure.
“The market continues to be reactive to the claims of cooperation of OPEC and Russia, giving them tremendous benefit of the doubt on their talk of potential coordination,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers such as Russia are expected to discuss an output freeze at informal talks in Algeria on Sept. 26-28.
“I think we’re going to be headline driven for a while. Generally, I think we’ll see lower prices going forward. The upcoming meeting isn’t going to do very much. If OPEC freezes at these levels, these are record levels,” said Tariq Zahir, analyst at Tyche Capital Advisors.
Iran has said it would cooperate on a freeze only if fellow exporters recognized its right to boost market share to levels reached before the imposition of nuclear-related sanctions, which have now been lifted.
Source: OPEC/Reuters
