AVERAGE OIL PRICE IN OPEC BASKET RISES BY $1.26 PER BARREL PER WEEK

VIENNA, March 8 (RIA Novosti) - The average oil price in today's basket of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and also of Mexican oil has increased by $1.26 over the past week and reached $31.87 per barrel, the OPEC General Secretariat in Vienna reported Monday.

A week before the price for one barrel of oil was $30.61, which is higher than the top level in the price corridor fixed by the OPEC leadership within the $22-28 limit.

So, the average oil price this year was, as of March 8, $30.16 per barrel.

The average price of the oil cartel in the past year was $28.10 per barrel and a year before it was $24.36.

The OPEC basket includes the following oil brands: Algerian Saharan Blend, Indonesian Minas, the Nigerian Bonny Light, the Arabian Light brand of Saudi Arabia, the Dubai brand of the Emirates, the Venezuelan Tia Juana and Mexican Isthmus Crude.