The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at US$61.64 a barrel on Friday, compared with $61.14 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes is made up of the following: Murban (UAE), Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), and Merey (Venezuela).

OPEC is an intergovernmental organisation of 14 nations (as of May, 2017), founded in 1960 in Baghdad and headquartered in Vienna since 1965. As of 2016, the 14 member countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and hold 73 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.

Abu Dhabi Emirate joined OPEC in 1967, while the UAE took its place as a member state during the year of its founding in 1971.

Source: Wam