OPEC Oil Price

About the OPEC Reference Basket

The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) was introduced in 2005 as a weighted average of crude oil prices from OPEC member countries. Each member contributes one representative crude grade to the basket. The ORB price is published daily by the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna and is used as a general indicator of the revenue per barrel earned by OPEC producers.

The basket includes diverse crude grades ranging from light sweet crudes like Bonny Light (Nigeria, ~33 API) to heavier sour grades like Merey (Venezuela, ~16 API). This diversity means the basket price tends to be lower than Brent or WTI, which are lighter and sweeter benchmarks.

OPEC+ (the expanded group including Russia and other non-OPEC producers) meets regularly to decide on production quotas. These meetings are among the most closely watched events in energy markets, as their decisions directly affect global oil supply and prices.

OPEC Market Share and Strategy

OPEC members hold approximately 80% of the world's proven oil reserves and produce about 30% of global crude output. Saudi Arabia is the group's largest producer and de facto leader, with the most spare production capacity — the ability to quickly increase output when needed.

The organization's strategy balances maintaining market share against supporting prices. Deep production cuts support higher prices but risk losing market share to US shale producers and other non-OPEC suppliers who can ramp up production when prices rise.