According to PIN, the price of Iran"s export crude stood at 114.94 dollars a barrel on Monday, May 20, compared with $114.53 the day before, National Iranian Oil Company international affairs reported.

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes also raised an all-time record high to 127.59 dollars a barrel on Thursday, May 22, compared with $142.45 the day before, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

OPEC"s daily basket price is also always published with a 24-hour delay and serves as the reference price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The new OPEC Reference Basket (ORB), implemented as of 10 September 2007, is currently made up of 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).

OPEC accounts for about 40 percent of the world"s oil production and currently its member states produce an average of 32 million barrels a day.