About This Statistic
This statistic depicts the average annual oil price for selected OPEC crude oils from 1960 and 2017. In 2016, the oil price per barrel was 40.68 U.S. dollars. The abbreviation OPEC stands for Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The following countries are members of the organization: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Gabon, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates.
OPEC crude oil prices
OPEC is the abbreviation for “Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries”. The following countries are members of this organization: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Gabon, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates. The aim of the OPEC is to coordinate the oil policies of its member states. The OPEC was founded in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq.
The OPEC crude oil price is defined by the price of the so-called OPEC (Reference) Basket. This basket is an average of prices of the various petroleum blends that are produced by the OPEC members. Some of these oil blends are, for example: Saharan Blend from Algeria, Basra Light from Iraq, Arab Light from Saudi Arabia, BCF 17 from Venezuela, et cetera. By increasing and decreasing its oil production, OPEC tries to keep the price between given maxima and minima.
The OPEC Basket is one of the most significant benchmarks for crude oil prices worldwide. The most important benchmarks are UK Brent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), and Dubai Crude (Fateh). Because there are many types and grades of oil, such benchmarks are indispensable for referencing them on the global oil market.