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The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $36.68 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $36.27 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), 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 the Wall Street Journal reports that oil prices are falling into deeper losses Wednesday after U.S. government data confirmed that oil stockpiles took another massive addition on top of already record-high levels.
Total commercial stocks of oil and refined fuels rose by 9.9 barrels to 1.354 billion barrels as of Friday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. That largely came from crude, which added 9.4 million barrels, an addition that outpaced analysts’ expectations, industry estimates and a strong draw from gasoline stockpiles.
That aggregate number has taken on growing importance in recent weeks as traders around the world await the moment when high stockpiles start to decline. Stockpiles have hit historic highs and they need to start falling before prices can rise substantially, according to several analysts.
Oil storage rose to a new weekly record. In monthly data, which don’t line up exactly with the weekly data, inventories last exceeded 500 million barrels in 1930.
Source: http://classfmonline.com/1.8827859