OPEC Daily Basket Rises 42 Cents To $77.80 A Barrel Wednesday OPEC

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pegged the value of its reference basket of 12 crude oils at $77.80 a barrel Wednesday, up 42 cents from $77.38 a barrel Tuesday, OPEC said Thursday.

OPEC's basket of 12 oils consists of Saharan Blend, Girassol, Oriente, Iran Heavy, Basra Light, Kuwait Export, Es Sider, Bonny Light, Qatar Marine, Arab Light, Murban and Merey.

The basket isn't used to set any oil prices in the market, but it does give a picture of the value of OPEC's output.

OPEC devised a new basket after members complained the old basket overstated the value of the group's output. They pushed for a basket that better represented grades that are higher in sulfur and, as such, cheaper.

On Jan. 30, 2005, OPEC suspended its official price band of $22-$28 a barrel because concerns about global stability pushed oil prices up sharply, rendering it irrelevant.

Below is a table of the daily OPEC basket price for the past 19 trading days:

   Date      New Daily OPEC Basket Price

10-03-10$77.8009-03-10$77.3808-03-10$77.8605-03-10$77.2704-03-10$76.4203-03-10$76.5202-03-10$75.5101-03-10$75.7526-02-10$74.6025-02-10$74.6624-02-10$75.4623-02-10$75.7522-02-10$76.1419-02-10$75.1718-02-10$74.4917-02-10$74.3316-02-10$73.0615-02-10$71.7212-02-10$71.55

-By Sherry Su, Dow Jones Newswires; +44(0)20-7842-9329; sherry.su@dowjones.com

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