OPEC crude rises USD 0.79 to USD 108.65 pb

The price of the 12-crude basket of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose USD 0.79 on Wednesday to settle at USD 108.65 per barrel, compared to USD 107.94 pb on Tuesday, the cartel said on Thursday. OPEC''s bulletin said the basket average price for the year came to USD 77.45 pb. The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB), introduced on 16 June 2005, is currently made up of Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), 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). During a meeting in June, the OPEC oil ministers had decided to keep the 24.580-million-bpd ceiling unchanged due to adequate supply at the global oil market. (QNA) MD