“The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 98.46 dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with $95.95 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), 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 BCF 17 (Venezuela).”

A Keynote Address delivered by HE Abdalla Salem El-Badri, OPEC Secretary General, at the Chatham House Conference entitled Middle East Energy 2008 – Risk and Responsibility: The New Realities of Energy Supply – London, UK, 4 February 2008.

• “Energy security should be reciprocal. It is a two-way street. Security of demand is as important to producers, as security of supply is to consumers;
• It should be universal, applying to rich and poor nations alike, with the focus on the three pillars of sustainable development and in particular the eradication of poverty;
• It should focus on providing all consumers with modern energy services;
• It should apply to the entire supply chain. Downstream is as crucial as upstream;
• It should cover all foreseeable time-horizons. Security tomorrow is as important as security today;
• It should allow for the development and deployment of new technologies in a sustainable, economic and environmentally-sound manner; and
• It should benefit from enhanced dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders.